Snøhetta has unveiled its design for "Svart," a hotel for sustainable tourism company Arctic Adventure of Norway. The building will be located within the Arctic Circle, on the edge of Norway's Holandsfjorden fjord at the base of the Svartisen glacier.
Snøhetta claims that Svart Hotel is designed to the "Powerhouse" building standard, a system developed by Snøhetta and a group of collaborators for creating energy-positive sustainable buildings – meaning it will produce more energy than it consumes.

The circular shape provides panoramic views and offers a direct connection with the natural setting. The structure of the building was inspired by references the region’s vernacular architecture, by traditional Norwegian fishing structures: the “fiskehjell,” (an A-shaped wooden structure used for drying fish), and the “rorbue,” a type of seasonal house used by fishermen. These two references contributed to the building's supporting structure of poles, ensure that the building places a minimal footprint and gives the building an almost transparent appearance.

"Building in such a precious environment comes with some clear obligations in terms of preserving the natural beauty and the fauna and flora of the site," said Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, founding partner of Snøhetta. "It was important for us to design a sustainable building that will leave a minimal environmental footprint on this beautiful Northern nature. Building an energy positive and low-impact hotel is an essential factor to create a sustainable tourist destination respecting the unique features of the plot."

The Powerhouse standard used for the design was developed by Snøhetta alongside Entra, Skanska, the ZERO Emission Resource Organization and Asplan Viak. The standard outlines a requirement for the building to not only be energy-positive, but to generate more renewable energy over a 60-year period than the total amount of energy that would be required to both sustain daily operations and to build, produce materials, and demolish the building.

In order to achieve this level of sustainability on the design of Svart, Snøhetta conducted an extensive survey of the solar conditions at the site throughout the year, eventually settling on the ring shape in order to place rooms, restaurants, and terraces in locations that make the most of the available solar energy. Meanwhile solar panels on the roof while harvest energy, producing more energy than buildings slightly further south due to the 24-hour daylight conditions over the summer, and geothermal wells will harness the energy from the ground below for heating purposes.

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Snøhetta is an integrated architecture, landscape, and interior design company based in Oslo, Norway, and New York City, formed in 1989 and led by principals Craig Dykers and Kjetil Thorsen. The firm, founded in 1989, which is named after one of Norway's highest mountain peaks, has approximately 100 staff members working on projects around the world. The practice pursues a collaborative, transdisciplinary approach, with people from multiple professions working together to explore diverse perspectives on each project.

Snøhetta has completed several critically acclaimed cultural projects, including the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt; the National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, Norway; and the Lillehammer Art Museum in Norway. Current projects include the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the World Trade Center site in New York.

In 2004 Snøhetta received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and in 2009 the firm was honored with the Mies van der Rohe Award. Snøhetta is the only company to have twice won the World Architecture Award for best cultural building, in 2002 for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and in 2008 for the National Opera and Ballet in Oslo.

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Published on: February 13, 2018
Cite: "Snøhetta designs a "Energy-Positive" Arctic Circle hotel" METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/snohetta-designs-a-energy-positive-arctic-circle-hotel> ISSN 1139-6415
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