“There is a great need for student housing in Oslo, so this is a construction project that will have a great impact in the years to come. We are very pleased to have been selected to convert a somewhat worn office building into a state-of-the-art block of bedsits with common amenities. We would like to thank The Anker Foundation for the commission,” says department manager Rune Andersstuen with Veidekke Bygg Oslo.

The current office building in Platous gate was built in 1964 and is about 6,000 square meters across six floors plus basements. The external walls will be insulated, all windows will be replaced, the sixth floor will be extended, and a common and two private roof terraces will be built. When everything is finished, there will be 99 student bedsits from the second to the sixth levels, while there will be commercial and hospitality spaces on the ground floor and a common room for the students. In the basement there will be technical rooms, bike parking, laundry, gym, a cinema room for the residents and storage rooms.

“This will be a nice addition to our portfolio of 1,800 student housing in central Oslo. Because the housing situation for students in Oslo is more demanding than ever, we choose to start this project even though the project finances are challenging. In the past, we have rented out our apartments at the same rent as SiO, but here we have to use market rent as a basis because unfortunately our projects no longer qualify for housing bank loans (or government support). We are therefore pleased that the settlement in connection with the revised national budget now provides for non-commercial student housing players like us to be able to get housing bank loans,” says managing director Svein Hov Skjelle in The Anker Foundation.

Construction work starts after the summer holidays and completion is scheduled for 2025. The contract is included in Veidekke’s order book for Q2 2024.