Architecture & Cultural Buildings

How Kominox AS supplied stainless steel railings to the MUNCH museum project in Oslo

620m

Of stainless steel railing material supplied to the project

24h

Standard delivery window from our Oslo hub to site

About

A flagship Norwegian cultural building on the Oslo waterfront, opened in 2021. Designed by Estudio Herreros (Madrid), the 13-storey MUNCH houses the world's largest collection of works by Edvard Munch.

Industry

Architecture & Cultural Buildings

Company size

3 storeys / 57 m above the waterfront

Founded

2021

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woman on focus photography

"MUNCH is a 13-storey building on the Oslo waterfront, designed to last generations and seen by millions. On a project like that, the cost of a material surprise is far higher than the cost of the material itself. Our job was to make sure no surprises reached the fabrication floor."

Anders Nilson

,

CEO

The Company

A specialist fabricator on one of Oslo's most-watched buildings

The customer is a Norwegian architectural metalwork subcontractor with a long history of railings and balustrade work on public and cultural buildings. When they were awarded the railings package on the MUNCH museum — Estudio Herreros's 13-storey building at Bjørvika, opened in 2021 — they needed a material partner who could match the project's standard without slowing the build.

The MUNCH building rises 57 metres above the Oslo waterfront and houses the world's largest collection of works by Edvard Munch. Designed to Passive House principles, with a perforated aluminium façade and large public circulation spaces inside, it is a building where every visible surface is read closely by the millions of visitors who pass through it. The railings package — interior stairs, mezzanines, gallery edges, public circulation — is part of that visible surface.

The Challenge

Sourcing the right material, fast, and keeping it arriving in step with the build

The subcontractor had a clear specification and a clear schedule. What they needed from a material partner was three things.

First, help finding the right material. Architectural projects of this profile use grades and dimensions that aren't always sitting in a standard distributor's stock. Sourcing the right product — and confirming it would arrive consistent across batches — needed someone with the supplier network and the time to do it properly.

Second, fast delivery into Oslo. Site access for railing installation was sequenced over the build programme. Long lead times from a remote mill would have meant either over-ordering and storing material on site, or delays at the wall.

Third, reliability under load. Once the fabrication schedule was locked, a missed delivery would have rippled into the main contractor's programme. There was no slack in the calendar for material to "almost" arrive.

This is the kind of brief Kominox is built for. The work isn't dramatic — it's the unglamorous job of making sure the railings material is the part of the project nobody has to talk about.

woman on focus photography

"We've been sourcing stainless steel for 25+ years. The pattern is always the same: the project doesn't reward you for being cheapest. It punishes you for being unreliable. So we built this around being the supplier they didn't have to chase."

Odd Larsen

,

Managing Director, Kominox AS

The Solution

One material partner, planned supply, fast turnaround

Kominox AS, led by Odd Larsen, took on the railings material scope as a planned supply package rather than a series of reactive orders.

We worked with the subcontractor up front to confirm the right grade and dimensions, then held the material at our Tallinn hub and released it to site on a 48-hour window in line with the installation programme. Each delivery arrived on the agreed date — no chasing, no surprises.

The Results

Clarity across the supply chain

For a project of this profile, the best outcome is that the material side is unremarkable. That was the result here.

  • 620m of stainless steel railing material supplied

  • 48-hour delivery window held across the build programme

  • Zero material-related delays on the railings package

  • One supplier end to end, with consistent specification across batches

man wearing inner dress shirt with black blazer standing outside at daytime

"MUNCH is the kind of project our customers trust us with — public, visible, no margin for error. After 25+ years in stainless and aluminium distribution, the lesson is the same: the supplier who doesn't make the news is the one worth keeping. That's the standard we hold ourselves to."

Anders Nilson

,

CEO

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