At the heart of Lagunen II lies a simple ambition: to create a good neighbour for the surrounding cityscape and a catalyst for everyday life. A bold cantilevered roof extends outward like a canopy over the city, its wooden soffits casting a warm, golden light that turns the rain into an atmospheric backdrop.
Transparent façades and street-level entrances to restaurants and cafes open directly toward public squares and pedestrian streets, dissolving the traditional boundary between inside and out. In Bergen’s soft, misty weather, the building glows like a beacon.
“Lagunen II is designed to respond to its microclimate rather than resist it,” says Mikkel Thams Olsen, co-founder of BIOSIS. “We wanted to create a place that offers shelter without shutting out the city – a space that feels open, warm, and connected, somewhere people naturally gravitate toward even on the rainiest day.”
The result is an inside-out structure that embraces its weather, redefining the mall as an urban meeting place rather than a sealed retail container.
A truly dynamic and mixed-use Destination
Lagunen II is more than just a place to shop, it is a dynamic, multifunctional space that brings people together by integrating retail, workplaces, dining, and leisure.
Located in a residential area, the expansion is designed to support activity throughout the day and evening, helping to foster a lively and inviting neighbourhood.
The mix of uses creates a self-sustaining ecosystem where office workers, residents, and visitors generate continuous foot traffic, keeping the environment active and vibrant.
Adding 15,000 square meters of new retail, dining, and office space, the extension is structured around a bright central atrium that pulls daylight deep into the building. The three upper floors accommodate flexible, light-filled offices that balance privacy with proximity to the activity below, offering generous ceiling heights, calm interiors, and direct access to shared amenities.
The middle floors are dedicated to retail, including the first Zara store in Bergen, while the ground level is activated by restaurants and cafés that spill outward into the surrounding neighbourhood.
“By inverting the traditional mall typology, we’ve created an open, urban framework that connects rather than isolates,” says Morten Vedelsbøl, co-founder of BIOSIS. “Our ambition was to move beyond the idea of a mall altogether and create a living urban environment – a place where retail, work, and daily life meet seamlessly, shaped by climate, community, and the neighbourhood around it.”
Key facts of the project
Client: Lagunen DA
Architect: BIOSIS
Contractor: LAB Entreprenør
Location: Bergen, Norway
Size: 15,000 sq meters
Status: Completed in November 2025
Embracing and Designing with Climate
The cantilevered roof forms a generous protective canopy that shields visitors from rain and wind, while its warm wooden soffits create an inviting, welcoming presence in the streetscape. Natural light pours through the central atrium and rooftop openings, ensuring the interior remains bright and uplifting even during the city’s long, low-light winter months.
Horizontal aluminium fins, partially made from recycled materials, provide subtle solar shading and add depth to the façades, while green walls and planted terraces enrich biodiversity and soften the building’s urban silhouette.
