Application seeks to nearly triple Government House size

Framkvæmdasýslan has applied to build a 1,685-square-metre office building beside Government House on Lækjargata in Reykjavík, mbl.is reports. The proposed building would have two floors and a basement, connected to the east side of Government House by a corridor.

The application lists the new building’s volume as nearly 6,700 cubic metres. Government House is 592 square metres, according to a 2020 report in Morgunblaðið, meaning the plans would bring its total size close to three times its current size.

Permit has not been issued

Reykjavík’s building official considered the application at a meeting this week but postponed a decision because of objections. No building permit has been issued. The nature of the objections is not yet known, but an opinion was requested from the Heritage Agency of Iceland.

A separate application has also been submitted to alter the internal layout of Government House and demolish a seven-square-metre entrance on its east side. A decision on that application was also postponed.

Plans date back to 2020

The plans for an extension are not new. In 2020, the state construction agency applied for a new zoning plan for the plot containing the Prime Minister’s Office and Government House, in connection with a planned extension for the Prime Minister’s Office.

A zoning proposal by the architecture firm Kurt og Pí was published in 2021. Planning documents state that the firm’s winning proposal for a new Government House building was completed in November 2020.

The latest building permit application was first considered by Reykjavík’s building official in late June. Its processing has since been repeatedly postponed because of objections.