This building is located in the centre of town, next to the town square, in an area that is mostly comprised of newer buildings and villas from the early 20th century. Towards the south, the building faces the park and Tromsø Town Hall. The town square terminates in the west with the old town hall - from 1863. The Nordlys building is characterised by the period it was constructed in, through the handling of the exterior and the fact that it displays function, a premises for office work and production. Today the local newspaper Nordlys manages a larger building complex at the rear edge of the architect Gangvik's original building.

The building is organised into three main volumes. In the middle section lies the entrance, which holds the building's primary traffic area. The various volumes are more or less similar to one another in terms of both plan and height. This provides a kind of tension between positive and negative volumes. Prefabricated elements in concrete with pebbles on the surface clad the building as well as window bands, horizontally positioned in the two largest sections and vertically positioned in the middle and smallest sections. The building terminates with a flat roof.