This tower block which was designed by Jan Inge Hovig (1920-1977) is centrally situated in town, slightly south of the actual town centre. Together with the Harstad Church, it comprises the most important mark in the landscape in the town centre. The building has ten residential stories along with a pedestal and roof termination. It is the tallest building in Harstad. In the 1950s there was a major lack of housing and nearly all of the lots in Harstad were developed, apart from a small area which was called "Ramsundet." It was in this area that HABO wanted to erect blocks of flats, along with a tower block. During the 1950s, five to six blocks were built in this area with altogether 101 flats.

The construction of the tower block did not occur without protest. Firstly, neighbours complained that it would block out all of the sunlight. Secondly, it was pointed out that there was not an adequate recreational area in the vicinity to accommodate so many people.

1957

Jan Inge Hovig MNAL

Harstad Housing Association (HABO)

Residential

block of flats

tower block

Cast-in-place concrete

block of flats

cast-in-place concrete

Bruun, Ola og Jim Myrstad, "Punkthus - Bylandskap Harstad 100 år 2004" in Harstad Tidene 10.05.03 pp. 38-39

Jakhelln, Gisle, "Hovig i nord", Byggekunst 7/1990, pp. 382-385