Nordic firm AART has won a competition to extend the Viking Age Museum building in Oslo, with plans to add a new curving wing to the cruciform plan (+ slideshow).

The contest called for a major expansion of the 192os museum designed by Norwegian architect Arnstein Arneberg, which is located on Oslo's Bygdøy peninsula and contains a large collection of Viking paraphernalia.

AART saw off competition from 110 entrants with its Naust proposal ? a C-shaped extension that will connect the north and west wings of the existing cross-shaped building, which forms part of the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo.

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"With its bold circular shape, the extension will create a new iconic signature for the museum, while making room for an intuitive flow of exhibitions and preserving the Viking Ship building as a prominent, totally integral part of the new museum and the surrounding countryside," said the architects.
The roof ridge of the extension will align with the gables of the old building, creating a looping form that will form a courtyard in the heart of the site.
The architects hope the configuration will create a flow of activity through the exhibits in the old and new parts of the building, which chart the history of the Viking age.

"The gable roof and the building communicates with the architecture of the existing building," said the arc...