Sustainable ice experience all year round

ICEHOTEL 365
Sustainable ice experience
all year round
ICEHOTEL 365 is a specially
­designed 2 100 square meter
ice art hall, which will house
suites, bar, sculpture gallery
and event hall – open 365 days
of the year and run on solar
power from the midnight sun.
BACKGROUND
Working with Swedish architect and
­sustainability designer Hans Eek, ­
ICEHOTEL 365 combines s­ tate-of-the-art
­architecture and sustainable energy with the
ice art that draws winter visitors from over 80
countries every year.
Jukkasjärvi has near constant daylight
between May and July. By making use of solar
power panels and sustainable building technology, and a reverse
­principle­as that used in
Experience
energy-­efficient ­housing to the
ICEHOTEL as
keep the cold out, the p
­ roject
a year-round
is taking shape during 2016.
destination
DESIGN & VISUALS
The construction of the permanent ice art hall
will start in spring 2016 and is projected to
open in Nov 2016.
Areas:
• 9 luxury suites with ensuite bathroom
• 11 art suites
• ICEBAR BY ICEHOTEL
• Ice sculpture gallery and sculpting class studio
• Event space
From
November
2016 ICEHOTEL
will always be
open.
The new building will be erected on the
current site of the ice storage, adjacent to the
existing ICEHOTEL, with the entrance facing
north-west (towards Dressing Room service
building). These facilities will be open 365
days of the year.
The interior in ICEHOTEL 365 will hold the
same standard and visual design as the winter
structure. The exterior in winter will have the
same shape and look as the adjacent winter
structure, and in summer, the arched roof will
be covered in grass.
The classic ICEHOTEL structure will be open
during winter, scaled to hold about 35 ice
rooms and winter suites, main hall and ­chapel.
Thanks to ICEHOTEL 365, the pre-Christmas­
season is extended by approximately a
month, and also enables a better guest
experience as the hotel in its entirety will
be completed by 16 December.
NEW SUITES
ICEHOTEL 365 will have deluxe and art suites.
• The deluxe suites in ICEHOTEL 365 are
­adaptions of the current luxury suites, with a
­heated en-suite bathroom that will also allow
guests to store luggage and get changed in the
comfort of their room.
• The art suites will have the same standard
and design as present, with the difference that
the structure allows to put in proper doors to
the suites. The changing booths will be placed
either in the ICEHOTEL 365 structure or in
Dressing Room, this is yet to be confirmed.
The winter structure will house ice rooms and
winter suites.
• Ice rooms carry the same standard as today.
• Winter suites hold the exact same level
of design as the art suites, with the only
­difference these will have the classic curtain
doors. The winter and art suites have identical
pricing,­but separating them into two categories will make it easier for guests to understand
the difference when booking.
Experience ICEHOTEL
365 days a year
Using the ice experience as
your base and combining it
with the opportunities each
­Arctic season presents, there is
a diverse range of experiences
at your choice.
THE ICE EXPERIENCES
The focus, or at least one of the main aims, of
visitors to ICEHOTEL is of course the ice experience. Spending a night in a hand sculpted
suite made of ice, trying ice sculpting, enjoying
ice cocktails in an ice bar or just marveling at
the creations adorning the hotel is the big draw.
THE ARCTIC SEASONS
– COMPLEMENTING AND CONTRASTING
The Sámi divide the year into eight seasons to
reflect the great and swift transformations that
we see over the year in Jukkasjärvi. Northern
lights, fluffy white landscapes and extreme
temperatures down to minus forty degrees
Celsius stand in sheer contrast contstant flow
of sunlight and mild temperatures of summer.
Come fall, the golden September hues and the
first Auroras of the season appear. Even within
each season, there are great contrasts.
ICEHOTEL 365 is a concept to present and
package the ice experience in new and interesting ways, and catering to a wider audience.
FALL
SPRING
WINTER
August to ­September
October to ­February
After almost two months
of constant daylight, we
welcome the return of
nightfall in front of the open
fire. The first northern lights
of the season appear, the
birch and shrub give the
evergreen spruce golden
accents. As the sun rises
on beautifully crisp mornings, an ethereal mist
floats over the river. The
cool and often clear days
make it popular for hiking,
fishing and river rafting.
Temperatures creep down
and the landscape is enveloped in thick layers of
fluffy snow. In the sky, you
can see the northern lights
and the pastel midwinter
daylight, Kaamos. Visitors
sample the Arctic lifestyle
and try snow­mobiling, dog
sledding or reindeer racing.
March to April
As the Spring Equinox approaches, days get longer and
milder. This is the favorite
time of year for most Kiruna
natives as it is an ideal time
to enjoy Nordic skiing, ice
fishing or just soaking up the
spring sun on a reindeer skin
in the snow. It is also the
season for ice harvest – after
growing thick under months
of wind and snow, the natural ice from the Torne river is
ready to be harvested. Large
blocks of ice are cut and
lifted from the river, stored
in the barn for the making of
new ice rooms.
SUMMER
May to July
Summer like you’ve never
experienced it before.
Mother Nature knows how
quick it flies by and with
the help of the midnight
sun, the snow has barely
melted away before the
birch bursts into bloom.
Mild days, sunlit nights,
wild berries, newborn
­reindeer calves and the
scent of newly tarred
wooden boats. Just ­nature,
adventure and silence.
Q&A
ICEHOTEL CEO Yngve Bergqvist answers some frequent questions.
How will it be constructed?
– We’re building a structure with a green
roof, ­covering it with Arctic mountain flowers and
grass varieties. The green roof covers metal sheets,
­protecting the building insulation which is designed
to keep the cold air in. The arched inner ceiling has a
built-in chilling tubes holding a temperature of -5 C.
The inner walls are then covered in snow.
The whole structure is held up by pillars, but the
walls of the rooms are made from snow. We’re just
finished producing the 1000 m3 of snice that we
­estimate we’ll need for walls and ceiling and this is
kept in our ice storage until we’re ready to start the
­interior work in ICEHOTEL 365, around 15 ­September.
Like always, ice is the central element and will
­adorn ICEHOTEL 365 in the form of decorative
­objects, pillars and sculptures.
25 artists and architects will be commissioned
to start working on decorating the suites, bar and
­gallery, starting mid-October.
How will it be run?
– We’ll operate in the same way we’ve operated winter seasons for over twenty-five years, the difference
being we renew design in the summer months. We
completed a renovation of the ice storage in 2015
and have capacity to store ice and snow blocks to use
and create a genuine environment across all seasons.
What will it look like?
– The visitor will experience ICEHOTEL 365 as he or
she experiences our hotel in the winter. The difference is an indoor temperature of -5 C during summer
and fall months.
And is this really environmentally sustainable?
– We estimate that by using solar
­panels and harnessing the near
constant ­daylight of the summer­
months, ICEHOTEL will reduce
its overall energy requirements.
We will produce around 75 kW
between April and September,
leaving an energy surplus that we
can utilize to run existing buildings
such as restaurant, offices and
warm guest rooms.
and this project is the result of catering to that demand. With research indicating winters are going to
be shorter in the future, we want to create a product
that is sustainable environmentally!
Do you expect a drop in demand during
winter as a result?
– No. I’m convinced this will over­
all ­increase the quality of the
­experience and we only have
capacity to cater to a very small
share of the global tourist ­market.
The world is a big place and many
guests aren’t willing or able to
come during our winter months.
I think this will increase awareness
of ICEHOTEL and overall generate a
­greater interest in visiting ICEHOTEL – in
all seasons.
’’We estimate that
by using solar panels
and harnessing the near
constant daylight of the
­summer months, ICEHOTEL
will reduce its overall
­energy requirements.’’
What does it mean for the ”winter” hotel?
– With ICEHOTEL 365, we will have 20 art rooms
available any day of the year, while we expand the art
experience in winter with another 20 ice rooms and
15 winter suites. Allowing the same winter capacity
as in recent years, this means we build a smaller
­winter structure that can be finished and opened
­earlier in December. There will be in total 35 art
rooms and a large ice gallery next winter.
Why are you doing it?
– We’re doing it to make the ice experience available
all year. We have guests from all over the world who
asks if you can visit ICEHOTEL in summer and fall
So what will summer visitors do during their visit?
– The ice experience is of course the focus of their
­holiday, with ice sculpting classes and a champagne
ice bar offering cool drinks “in” the rocks. There is
also the midnight sun and you can actually experi­
ence the northern lights from as early as September.
River rafting tours along the Torne river and superb
fishing, as well as cultural Sámi experiences are
just some of the activities we’ll be offering in these
seasons.
CONTACT
Josefin Lindberg, PR & Media: [email protected]