The Visitor Center
The main entrance to Sigrid Undset's home and the garden goes through the Visitor Center where you will find the ticket sale, the museum shop, and the Aula.
The Visitor Center was finished to the opening of the museum in 2007, and is drawn by the architect Carl-Viggo Hølmebakk.
God's Beautiful Daughters
The jury who chose Hølmebakk's suggestion explained their choice of concept with the architect's very convincing idea about contrast and concentration.
The building is a clear frontier between the road and Bjerkebæk. Through a beautifully curved wall of glass, the building opens up towards the garden and makes one get the feeling of being outdoor.
God's Beautiful Daughters is the lyric name the architect Carl-Viggo Hølmebakk gave the building. The title has its origin in an essay Sigrid Undset wrote in Verdens Gang on 22 December 1947.
The building
The Visitor Center is located above Bjerkebæk with the entrance towards Sigrid Undset's road. The facade is in brick.
The entrance to Bjerkebæk goes through this building, and once you are inside you can see the old houses and the wood surrounding them through the glass wall.
The Aula
The Aula in the southern part of the building can seat 150 persons and works well for concerts and talks. Through the large windows, you can see the garden and the old houses. There are also stairways directly to the garden. The Aula was rebuilt and made larger in 2019.
Photo: Siv Kjersti Nårstad Skansen / Bjerkebæk
Photo: Siv Kjersti Nårstad Skansen / Bjerkebæk