The building is located in the city center, in the northern part of the Pipervika neighbourhood, and it faces Oslofjord.

King Christian IV decided that the city should not be rebuilt at the same location and instead be built to the north of Akershus Fortress.

Architectural competitions were held in 1876 and 1898 for a new building at Hammersborg, but the plans were never carried out due to a lack of funds.

The idea of building a new city hall in Pipervika was first suggested by architect Oscar Hoff in 1906, but nothing came of the plans.

In 1918 Arnstein Arneberg and Magnus Poulsson were selected as winners, whose project was clearly inspired by Stockholm City Hall.

A continued lack of funds meant that construction had to wait, and in the intervening years the architects made several changes to the project.

The ground stone laying ceremony took place in September 1931, with King Haakon VII and Crown Prince Olav in attendance.

The city's old amusement park – Tivoli – was also forced to close as a new zoning plan created new plots of land for sale.

Brick was in stark contrast to the steel and glass which architects considered modern at the time, and no further buildings were built in that style afterwards.

The western wall of the building is dominated by Anne Grimdalen's sculpture of Harald Hardråde on horseback.

Reliefs by Dagfin Werenskiold face the square and are multicoloured depictions of motifs from the Poetic Edda.

Joseph Grimeland designed the bronze relief over the entrance and also the Oslopike ("Oslo girl") high up on the wall.

They also depict the growth of commercial activity in the city, including the rise of the labour movement.