Adjacent to the Ski Hall in Lørenskog stands the new Thon Hotel SNØ. The hotel’s design is a result of very specific architectural considerations for the area.
Both the Ski Hall and the hotel are part of Snøbyen, described as one of the most innovative and commercially driven projects ever initiated in Norway.
Here, the architectural concept describes the Ski Hall as an ice sheet, situated at the area’s highest point. The hotel is meant to resemble a mountain wall leaning against the iceberg. The starting point for it all was a challenging plot, with a large and gentle slope, surrounded by hills covered in forest and steep cliffs.
“Because of the terracing and adaptation to the terrain, the building has been an exciting challenge, and everything had to be tailored especially,” says Fatima Farran from Hille Melbye Architects.
She is responsible for the design of the hotel, along with architect Juliana Voss-Clark.
FROM MOUNTAIN TO GLACIER: The design of the hotel is inspired by mountains and rocks, and it is located adjacent to the world’s largest indoor ski center.
From three to nine floors
The hotel was one of the last projects to be completed in Snøbyen and was finished in June 2023.
“When we started the work, there were many guidelines in documents and other buildings that had begun to take shape,” says Juliana Voss-Clark.
To emphasize the association with the mountain wall while also accommodating the limitations of the plot, the hotel is constructed with prefabricated facade elements. The facade panels are dark, and different surfaces are meant to evoke associations with stone and rock elements. The hotel is also designed so that the floors step according to the terrain and the ski hall – from three to nine floors above ground level.
Indoor access to the ski hall
In addition to the building’s design, what’s unique about Thon Hotel SNØ is indoor access to Norway’s largest indoor ski arena. An underground parking garage with ski storage rooms, waxing rooms, storage, technical rooms, and an escape tunnel from the ski hall have also been built.
The hotel also includes 289 hotel rooms, a large conference hall, meeting and seminar rooms, a restaurant, and a gym. Monn Interiørarkitekter has been responsible for the design of fixed and loose interior solutions. They have based their designs on Thon Hotels’ own interior concept and the building’s modern architecture.
You can read more about the new hotel on iRadar.no.