NHH takes over Drammensveien 44

The functionalist landmark is becoming the permanent base for the NHH community in Oslo.

`We have always been a national institution, and now we have a permanent address in Oslo as well. It will be a perfect meeting place,´ says NHH Rector Helge Thorbjørnsen.

He is leading the establishment of NHH’s new campus in Oslo. Drammensveien 44, one of the capital’s most distinctive functionalist buildings, has been a meeting place for academic communities since 1935.

Full takeover

NHH and the consultancy AFF have rented part of the building since 2008. But now the takeover is complete. The entire building will be used by NHH, NHH Executive and AFF, which is part of the NHH community.

`We know that many of our alumni, programme participants and partners work and live in the Oslo region. Now that we have taken over the whole building, more people will have the opportunity to come here,´says Thorbjørnsen.

`In addition, we avoid spending money on conference hotels and external venues.´

helge thorbjørnsen_av joakim enger_tore hillestad. drammensveien_av siv dolmen — Rector Helge Thorbjørnsen and NHH Executive Director Tore Hillestad are very pleased to take over the functionalist building in Oslo together with AFF. In 2025, it is the NHH community that will be running the house — but it was the medical profession that originally had Drammensveien 44 built in 1935. Photo: Joakim S. Enger og Siv Dolmen

Tore Hillestad, Director of NHH Executive, agrees:

`Many of our NHHE students combine demanding jobs with further education. It matters a lot to have a place that is easy to reach, and that feels like our own NHH base. Drammensveien 44 will become an academic home in Oslo,´ says Hillestad.

Drammensveien 44

Built: 1935
Architects: Thorvald and Henning Astrup
Style: Functionalism
Original owner: The Norwegian Medical Society
Taken over by: NHH, AFF and NHH Executive

The Board Conference

The first event at the "new" campus will be the Board Conference 2025, organised by NHH Executive and NHH. Here, researchers and experienced board chairs will discuss the role of boards in a time marked by geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

The conference is open to everyone.

Programme

Time: 11 November, 15:00–18:00
Place: NHH Campus Oslo, Drammensveien 44

The Medical Society

In 2025, NHH Rector Helge Thorbjørnsen will be the one guiding the building’s future. But it was the medical profession that originally constructed Drammensveien 44 in 1935.

The Norwegian Medical Society wanted a grand, modern meeting place. The architects Thorvald and Henning Astrup were commissioned to design a large functionalist building with a lecture hall, library, reception rooms and work rooms. In 1935 – just one year before NHH opened in Bergen – the building stood completed.

For several decades, Oslo’s doctors gathered here every Wednesday evening for lectures and discussions. Coffee and pastry at 19:15. New treatments, new perspectives on the world.

Their motto was simple:

One should have learned something new before going home.