New lease of life for Sortland’s Nortura building

19 August 2025

Norway’s efforts to reuse and recycle construction materials pale in comparison to those of other wealthy countries. A recent gift from Sparebankstiftelsen 68 Grader Nord boosts Museum Nord’s ongoing work to do something about that, and simultaneously helps realise plans to give new purpose to a historically significant local building. 

It has been a long time since Sortland’s Nortura slaughterhouse saw any commercial activity. Plans to remove the building were made years ago and put into action this spring. In the average Norwegian demolition process, the building to be demolished is treated as waste, but not in this one.

Since 2023, Museum Nord has been involved in the EU-funded CircBoost project together with UiT, Reno-Vest and Lundhagem arkitekter. The project seeks to boost the uptake of circular practices in the construction sector, and the Vesterålen partners’ focus is on recycling concrete. Sortland Municipality owns the building and offered the project partners use of its parts. Early in the demolition process it was discovered that the quality of the concrete was higher than expected. That opened up a valuable opportunity that did not have funding in the main project: reuse. 

Recycle or reuse?

To recycle concrete, used concrete is ground and mixed with new concrete. Today’s standard dictates that only 30 % of the mix can consist of used concrete. The process therefore only leads to a limited reduction in resource use. Reuse is a different story. When reusing concrete, whole pieces are kept and used as they are, but that requires gentle cutting which must be carried out with specialist equipment. 

Compared to other European countries, Norway’s track record for recycling and reuse of construction materials is poor. For that reason, Vesterålen’s participation in the CircBoost project is of great value. Furthermore, the available concrete’s high quality makes it possible to exceed the project’s original level of ambition, but not without external funding.

Support from Sparebankstiftelsen 68 Grader Nord

The Vesterålen project partners reached out to Sparebankstiftelsen 68 Grader Nord for support in July this year. They quickly saw value in the proposal to use pieces of the old Nortura building in new projects. Within days, they approved funding for specialist cutting, and the floor of the building is now cut out and ready to be moved. That way, the building will live on in the local community – first as a bench in the new GaiaVesterålen museum in Galleriet, Sortland, and then as part of the construction of the future GaiaVesterålen museum building. 

From local institution to iconic new build 

The slaughterhouse on the southern outskirts of Sortland was a cornerstone of the region’s agricultural industry since its completion in 1964. Sortland got its first slaughterhouse 30 years earlier, but stricter hygiene regulations and the need for increased capacity led to the establishment of the new facility which is currently being demolished. Nord-Norges Salgslag (NNS), a farmer-owned cooperative later known as Gilde and Nortura, established the slaughterhouse. It played an important role in the local community for decades, both as a service provider and employer, until the doors eventually closed for good.

The decision to close the slaughterhouse came in 2009 as part of national cuts across the Nortura company. Many people lost their jobs, and the big local employer was soon consigned to history. Activity ceased only a few months after the decision to close was made, but thanks to the CircBoost project, the building has more to offer yet. The ambition for the future GaiaVesterålen museum is circularity in construction and operations, and recycled and reused concrete will therefore be central to its realisation. That way, the history of a local institution can live on in a building for the future.