Knut Astrup

Astrup og Hellern A/S

Architecture Office

John R. Johnsen

Steinsvik Arkitektkontor

Elvestrand Housing Cooperative, or the Horseshoe Block which the large block is called, is situated near the lake Storvatnet barely 2 kilometres from the Hammerfest town centre. This block was constructed when the frozen food company Findus expanded its operations in Hammerfest, in the first half of the 1960s. It was completed in 1965- designed by the architectural firm Astrup and Hellern. In the beginning of the 1990s it was renovated with Steinsvik Arkitektkontor from Tromsø serving as the responsible architect for the project. Altogether the building complex houses 124 flats of varying sizes. Construction of the building was supported by the Norwegian state housing bank Husbanken.

This largely notched block lies like an arch, or horseshoe, in a sloping terrain with lichen vegetation. Mountains act as a back wall towards the south-east. The terrain is lowest in the U-form and where the block is tallest - six residential floors and a bottom storey for communal activities. Towards the northwest, the lake Storvatnet and the town the building appears closed. Horizontal white and grey window bands divide the façade and separate the stories from one another. These window bands significantly emphasise the horizontal quality. Towards the southeast and the partially closed room that faces the mountains, the façade is white plastered. On every other storey there is an inner corridor, which provides access to all of the flats along the entire length of the building.

Source: Arkitekturguide Nord-Norge og Svalbard: https://arkitekturguide.uit.no/files/show/5219

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