Longyearbyen, Svalbard
Jarmund/Vigsnæs Architects

Jarmund/Vigsnæs Architects' Svalbard Research Centre glows like a ship in the arctic night

	Photo © Nills Petter Dahle

By Peter MacKeith

In old Norse, svalbard means “the land of the cold coasts.” Standing on the meteorologists’ observation deck atop the copper-sheathed research center of the University of Svalbard in arctic Norway, those coastlines, the vastness of the northern polar sky, and the sheer dark and cold of the December polar night, are immediately apparent to the visitor to this arctic archipelago at 78 degrees north latitude. The Aurora Borealis, source of myth and subject of research, is close at hand.

Svalbard’s remote location and extreme environmental conditions present not only a daunting habitat for humans but pose a fundamental, definitive question: Can one make an architecture here that goes beyond shelter or direct industrial use? Svalbard’s stark setting positions architecture at its radical limits in nature—literally its degree zero of conception and expression—and in this clarifying context, any architectural decision must have an absolute value.

Oslo-based architects Jarmund/Vigsnæs designed the research facility, known as the Svalbard Research Centre, keeping in mind that “every commission should be unique with reference to its site and circumstances.” Their words resound in the faceted, glowing character of the building. Sited on the shores of the Advent Fjord in Longyearbyen, Svalbard’s administrative center, the 91,500-square-foot complex expands an existing facility to accommodate a rapidly growing international faculty, staff, and student body, and to incorporate new museum spaces for the Svalbard History Museum.

The immense north-facing glazed aperture of the building’s spruce-paneled central atrium literally expresses the center’s mission to observe and explore the arctic environment. Such a climate places an absolute premium on light, thermal control, and durability. Spruce-clad corridors radiate out from the atrium and its adjacent public auditorium, providing access to the faculty offices, laboratories, and classrooms for 300 students and 50 staff in four departments of arctic study—biology, geology, geophysics, and technology. Each corridor terminates in the research community’s shared resources and gathering spaces: a research library, a dining facility (in the renovated portion of the earlier structure), large machine shops and storage areas, and the publicly accessible Svalbard History Museum exhibition hall. The separation of the program into thinner volumes or limbs (the body analogy is clear from an aerial view) produces the combined benefits of clear circulation and optimal natural light.

Want the full story? Read the entire article in our March 2006 issue.
Subscribe to Architectural Record in print, or get Architectural Record digitally

the People Owner Statsbygg / Directorate of Public Construction and Property Architect Jarmund/Vigsnæs AS Architects MNAL www.jva.no Einar Jarmund, Håkon Vigsnæs, Alessandra Kosberg Team: Anders Granli, Nevzat Vize, Sissil Morseth Gromholt, Thor Christian Pethon, Halina Noach, Harald Lode, Stian Schjelderup Engineer(s) Structural: AS Frederiksen www.frederiksen.no Electrical: Monstad AS www.opticonsult.no Mechanical: Erichsen & Horgen AS www.erichsen-horgen.no Consultant(s) Furniture: Snøhetta AS v/Linda Evensen www.snoarc.no Landscape: Grindaker AS Landscape Architects www.grindaker.no Acoustical: NorConsult AS www.norconsult.no Climate and snow studies: Byggforsk v/Thomas Thiis www.byggforsk.no Photographer(s) Nils Petter Dahle CAD system, project management, or other software used Microstation v8 www.bentley.com

the Products Structural system Skanska AS - General system of prefabricated concrete slabs and mixed steel/laminate wood columns www.skanska.com Roofing Metal: AS Freitag - Copper roofing (and wall cladding) Windows Aluminum: Daaland AS - All windows and glazed areas in Schuco aluminum-system www.daaland.no Doors Entrances: Daaland AS www.daaland.no; Schuco aluminum-system www.schueco.com Fire-control doors, security grilles: Bramo AS www.bramo.no Hardware Locksets: TrioVing AS www.trioving.no Interior finishes Wooden ceiling designed by architect Lighting Interior ambient lighting: Fagerhult www.fagerhult.com Downlights: Glamox www.glamox.com; Trilox Task lighting: Spectral Conveyance Elevators/Escalators: Kone AS www.kone.com Plumbing Mora Inxx www.moraarmatur.se