Lagunen II Shopping Center

IN BERGEN - ONE OF EUROPE'S RAINIEST CITIES

Copenhagen-based BIOSIS has completed Lagunen II, a climate-adaptive, community-focused expansion of Norway's largest shopping centre.

Rather than treating weather as a constraint, BIOSIS uses Bergen's rain as a generative design driver. A bold cantilevered roof forms the project's architectural signature: a sweeping canopy that shelters public space while its warm timber soffits cast a soft glow outward into the city.

The structure creates a protective microclimate that allows street life to thrive even during long periods of rain, turning a challenge into an atmospheric asset.

Transparent façades, deep overhangs, and porous ground-floor frontages dissolve the traditional barrier between inside and outside, inviting residents and visitors to flow naturally through public squares, cafés, and pedestrian streets.

Around this atrium, the program is organized vertically: retail on the lower and middle floors - including Bergen's first Zara store - restaurants and cafés at street level, and flexible office environments on the upper levels.

These light-filled workspaces balance openness and privacy while maintaining a strong connection to the activity below, supported by shared amenities that encourage cross-program interaction throughout the day.

The result is a destination that moves beyond conventional retail typology. With workplaces, hospitality, dining, and leisure integrated into one coherent framework, Lagunen II functions as a lively mixed-use anchor for the surrounding residential district.

Climate responsiveness extends throughout the project. Horizontal aluminium fins - partially made from recycled materials - provide nuanced solar protection, while planted terraces and green walls enhance biodiversity and soften the large building mass.

Light, air, and ecological performance are treated as equal priorities alongside programmatic needs. The project targets Energy Class A and BREEAM In-Use certification, reflecting its emphasis on long-term sustainability and operational resilience.

For Lagunen Storsenter's CEO, Knut Eliassen, the architectural approach reinforces the centre's social role: "Lagunen II had to do more than attract shoppers - it needed to contribute meaningfully to everyday life."

Lagunen II offers a model for how large-scale retail environments can evolve in the face of shifting urban patterns and climate realities.

By designing with weather instead of against it, BIOSIS proposes a more open, resilient, and socially rooted vision for the future of mixed-use architecture.