Student-Led Design and Build Project on Epos
with: Carolina Andrade, Stéphanie Hélène Celliers, Chloé Galic, and Ymane Hage

Working closely with — and aboard — the heritage vessel Epos, Bergen School of Architecture students Carolina Andrade, Stéphanie Hélène Celliers, Chloé Galic, and Ymane Hage led a design-and-build project to reimagine parts of the boat’s interior for its evolving role as a mobile cultural venue. The project followed an earlier course at BAS, in which students mapped the spatial and programming needs of the former library boat.

Through site visits, onboard testing, historical research, and public events, the students developed adaptable design strategies and built custom elements like multifunctional seating and furnishings as well as an improved bar and galley area. These interventions reflect Epos’s transformation from a floating library into a flexible setting for communal events, readings, gatherings, residencies, school visits, workshops, and exhibitions, often held in collaboration with libraries, festivals, and local partners.

Launched in the 1960s as a library boat delivering books and knowledge to coastal communities in Western Norway, Epos was taken out of library service in 2020 and is now managed by a foundation dedicated to supporting its renewed cultural role in the region. Bringing thoughtful craft and architectural care to the vessel, the students’ work contributes to this reinvention — bridging past and future through hands-on, responsive design.

Carolina Andrade (b. 2003, Lisbon) is a fifth-year student at Bergen School of Architecture. Prior to coming to Bergen in 2024, she spent time in Lisbon and Porto studying product design at the António Arroio Artistic School (2018–2021) and architecture in the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (2021–2024).

Chloé Galic (b. 2003, Nantes) is an architecture student in Nantes, who completed the first year of her master’s degree on exchange in Bergen, studying at BAS in 2024–2025.

Stephanie Celliers (b. 2001, Mpumalanga) is completing her master’s degree in architecture at BAS, having previously finished her undergraduate studies in architecture at the University of Pretoria, before working for two years in the industry at multiple firms, including Wolff Architects.

Ymane Hage (b. 1996, Montreal) is completing her Master’s degree in architecture at BAS, having earnt her undergraduate degree in environmental design from the University of Quebec in Montreal. Her experience spans furniture design development and the adaptive reuse of abandoned spaces through transformative architectural interventions.