Svalbard Science Centre

The Svalbard Science Centre is located in Longyearbyen, a town of some 2,000 inhabitants on the island of Svalbard, 78˚ north. It’s about halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, which is just 600 miles away. The name Svalbard means “cold coast,” which is appropriate, bearing in mind that mean air temperature is well below zero for most months of the year.

The ground is permanently frozen, and this permafrost presented major challenges for building work – particularly with foundations and below-ground services.

So, designing a major 8,500-m² (91,500 sq ft) addition to a university research building [specializing in Arctic studies, naturally] presented Norwegian architects Jarmund/Vigsnæs AS Architects MNAL with some unusual challenges. The Svalbard Science Centre is an addition to an existing university and research building, extending it to about four times its original size. Not surprisingly, the project is the largest building in the town of Longyearbyen and, indeed, the arctic island region of Spitzbergen. The building comprises an expansion of the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) as well as space for the Norwegian Polar Institute, the Governor of Svalbard, and the Svalbard Museum. It includes a wide range of very different spaces, including lecture halls, research laboratories, offices, and exhibition areas.

The main structure of the building is in timber, to make onsite adjustments simpler. An insulated copper-clad skin is wrapped around the complex spaces demanded by the plan, creating an outer shell adjusted to the flows of wind and snow passing through the site. The whole building is raised up on 390 steel posts to avoid melting the ground permafrost, and it almost seems to float above the ground. It was an essential requirement to maintain space between the building’s base and the frozen ground, but this allows the wind to blow through, particularly in winter storms. So, to make sure that any buildup of snow would not create undesirable conditions in front of doors or windows, climatic 3-D simulations were carried out during the design process and the design was altered as a result. Both physical and virtual models were important tools in the design process of such complex shapes, while an accurate 1:50 construction model also facilitated work on site. Working with a copper skin proved particularly flexible in adapting to the developing design resulting from both the climatic studies and the complex demands of the plan.

The final design is an organic form derived from a lobster-shaped plan and faceted cross sections using sloping façades and shallow pitched roofs. The geometry is, of course, driven by essential practical considerations such as the effects of the flows of wind and snow through the site. The project was “Highly Commended” in the 2007 European Copper in Architecture Awards.

An important consideration for the architects was to create vital public spaces and circulation areas inside the building – effectively an “interior campus” area providing warm and well-lit meeting places during the dark and cold winter.

Now when the new research centre is opened to the students and researchers, its administration hopes that more students will be tempted to complete their studies at 78 degrees north. The Research Council of Norway also believes the new centre can strengthen the international research environment on Svalbard.

1 Torso – колонна с витым стержнем; торс фигуры