Sommerro will boast luxurious rooms and a dazzling array of F&B venues (Photo: Lars Petter Pettersen)

Designed by LPO Architects and Grecodeco, the 246-room Sommerro in the Norwegian capital promises to be a spectacular new addition to Nordic Hotels & Resorts’ portfolio.

Taking over the former Oslo Lysverker headquarters in Frogner, this opening will signify a new era for the 1930s landmark and its surroundings. We find out what to expect from the design-led property.

Neighbourhood influences abound

Sommerro aspires to act as both a reflection of the neighbourhood it’s in and as a community in its own right for culture-hungry locals, fulfilling the dreams of the building’s original architects Andres Bjercke and Georg Eliassen in making this area a true urban hub. It’ll offer 16 private-hire rooms when the renovation project completes – including the Per Krohg event space named after the artist whose fresco decorates the ceiling – four restaurants, three bars and Oslo’s first rooftop pool.

Plans for a library and small cinema are also underway, along with the restoration of the art deco Vestkantbadet public baths featuring a Per Krohg mosaic mural. One of the country’s few remaining public baths, they will now become a part of Sommerro’s sprawling wellness centre, featuring 16 treatment rooms and hammams and a gym. All of this will be joined by 246 guest rooms, including a villa with 15 rooms and suites, as well as 56 hotel-branded apartments.

“We are excited to bring one of Oslo’s most iconic buildings back to life,” said Petter Stordalen, owner of Nordic Hotels & Resorts. “We wanted to create a hotel that will bridge the concepts of hospitality and design and serve as an open house for the local community and the visiting creative scene.”

Heritage-inspired design

This building sits within Oslo’s historic Frogner neighbourhood, an area stretching from the Royal Palace up to Frogner Park, filled with magnificent 19th-century buildings and a number of museums and art galleries, as well as antiques stores and restaurants. Owing to a construction period that spanned 13 years from 1917, the property fuses neoclassical aesthetics with functional features and art deco detail, pairing a hand-hammered bare brick facade with bas-reliefs by sculptor Asbjørg Borgfelt and art deco lighting.

The building’s original features have been restored and developed by local design firm LPO Architects along with New York- and London-based studio Grecodeco. Taking cues from Norwegian aesthetics and history, the interiors will be immersive and timeless, with guest rooms ranging from 19 sq m to 150 sq m in size, drawing inspiration from influences such as Norwegian furniture design from the early 1900s.

Visitors can expect to see luxurious interiors of custom-designed furniture, monochromatic colour schemes and parquet flooring embellished with art deco-inspired lighting, richly patterned hand-knotted rugs and, as with all properties by Nordic Hotels & Resorts, artwork curated by Sune Nordgren.

“We relish bringing historic spaces, unique sites and new concepts to life in the 21st century by celebrating their idiosyncrasies and layering in references from an array of periods, both real and imagined,” said Adam Greco, founder of Grecodeco. “Our aim with Sommerro is to inspire people to learn more about Norway and its rich history, culture and stories. If we can get visitors to fall in love with this place, we’ll have made a beautiful project.”

“We have worked very closely with historians and art experts to preserve the decade-old history and at the same time create something that can last for another century,” concluded Siri Løining, brand director at Sommerro. “For us, this is not just a hotel for visitors, it is a chance to create a unique addition to one of the oldest and most established neighbourhoods in Oslo. Sommerro makes your living room bigger; a place where you can sleep well, work well and truly enjoy yourself.”

(Photos: Lars Petter Pettersen)