Zirconia.

Built: 1913
Architect: Einar Halleland (Haugesund)
Style: Jugendstil / Art Nouveau

Haraldsgata 162 was erected in 1913 by a joint–stock company in which newspaper editor Bernt Seland was one of the principal shareholders. The building was originally designed and constructed as a cinema, drawn by the renowned Haugesund architect Einar Halleland. Halleland—educated in Germany and strongly influenced by the Art Nouveau movement—left a lasting mark on Haugesund with several well-known works, including Vår Frelsers Church and the Post Office. He was also engaged in the post-fire reconstruction of Ålesund after 1904, helping shape the city’s now celebrated Jugendstil character.

From Smithy Plot to Cinema

Before 1913, the site housed a smithy owned by blacksmith Ole Johann Olsen. When the cinema building rose that year, it became the fourth permanent movie theater in Haugesund. The venue took the name “Verdensspeilet”, though locals quickly nicknamed it “Sing-Sing.” Early film programs were short actuality and reportage films, often accompanied by live music—from a small orchestra, piano and violin, or solo piano.

A Changing City Center

At the time, Strandgata was still Haugesund’s dominant shopping street. Around the turn of the century, however, Haraldsgata began to assert itself as a growing commercial axis—known early on as Nygata. By 1913, the two streets had become roughly equal as shopping districts, with Haraldsgata on the offensive and soon emerging as the pedestrian thoroughfare, earning the popular nickname “stripå.”

Meanwhile, the marketplace area known as Torget effectively “moved” one block—from the crossroads of Torggata/Strandgata to the intersection of Haraldsgata/Torggata. Around the same time, Nils Sund opened his bookshop on the corner just above, and the Telephone Building at Haraldsgata 165 had been completed in 1907. These shifts helped confirm Haraldsgata as the new main street, stretching from Barneparken in the south to Byparken in the north.

Ownership and Conversions

In 1917, the building was purchased by merchant J. M. Ousdahl, who in 1928 completed a remodel that converted the premises to offices and retail units. For many years the property was commonly referred to as “Ousdahlgården.” From then on, the building was used primarily for shops and offices.

At the turn of 1964/65, Jacob Carlsen acquired the property, which in later decades became widely known as “Gullhuset.” On 14 March 2005, Tor Gunnar Isdahl took over Haraldsgata 162. Renovation followed, with parts of the building adapted for apartments, alongside office and commercial space—continuing the mixed-use tradition that has characterized the building since the 1920s.

Adapted from an article by Trude Isdahl, B.A. in History (28.02.2005).