Queens Ingrid's Garden

Norwegian patterns scaled up to a 200m2 display creatively reinterpreted on photovoltaic panels right in the heart of Oslo.

The Be-Smart project has received funding from The European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 818009.

Art technology that bring people together

Ingrid’s Garden is an innovative garden-town whose main focus is to let individuals with cognitive impairment, like dementia or Alzheimer’s deficiencies, the opportunity to live as normally as possible within a safe framework. The garden city have, among other things, a restaurant, café, cultural hall, shop, hairdressing and foot care salon. The goal is to draw city life all the way into the garden city, for the benefit of both residents and visitors.

The building is adapted for local energy production, with solar cells on roofs. A gable roof and Oslobygg’s solar cell initiative along with the EPoG panels received through the EU Be-Smart initiative. The compáz ceramic printed design of the solar panels merges traditional norwegian pattern with local quoting and poetry to help people with dementia to eventually remember some of the older aspects of their life.

The photovoltaic works are placed on a section of the roof accessible to the residents and form an elevated walkway offering a magnificent view of the city. The 1976 x 996 mm solar panels offer a performance of 160 Wp each and are directly connected to the city's electricity grid.

Sweet active memories

Historical photographs of Norwegian daily life in digital print have also been integrated on photovoltaics into the facade to immerse residents and visitors in the not so distant past.