Svart, an energy positive hotel

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE

Svart will be the world’s first energy-positive hotel, located close to the Svartisen glacier, north of the Arctic Circle, in the Meløy municipality. The design is low-impact, the construction based on local materials to the extent possible, and subject to rigid sustainability criteria.

IMPACT

Svart is the first building to be designed and built according to the highest energy efficiency standards in the northern hemisphere. The hotel will save 85% of its annual energy consumption and it will harvest enough solar energy to cover both the hotel operations, including its boat shuttle operation, and the energy needed to construct the building.

DESCRIPTION OF INITIATIVE

The hotel, which is designed by the Norwegian architect firm Snøhetta, will have about 100 rooms, an onsite education and design lab, and a sustainable farm producing ingredients for the hotel’s four restaurants.

Svart will be open to overnight guests, day-visitors, and to the local community.

The architecture is inspired by local coastal building traditions and stands on wooden piles dissolving the boundary between land and fjord. The shape of the hotel provides a panoramic view of the fjord and an experience of living in proximity to nature.

The plan is for Svart to go off-grid within five years of operation. This means that the hotel including its adjacent services, including the farm and the boat shuttles, will be completely self-sufficient in terms of electricity and waste management.

QUICK FACTS

  • Organisation: Svart
  • City: Meloy
  • Type of provider: Hotel
  • Circular principle: Regenerate natural systems
  • Focus: Redesign
  • Keywords: #energy #ecobuilding

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