Winter Wonderland

With temperatures hitting -1°C in the UK this month we thought we would share a few architectural projects inspired by the cold and also showcase a couple of our projects that would not look out of place in Scandinavia.

Ice Hotel, Sweden

ICEHOTEL is situated in the picturesque village of Jukkasjärvi, 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle in Swedish Lapland, on the shores of the River Torne. As winter approaches every Autumn the pure clear water and gentle movement creates crystal clear ice up to 1 metre thick. This unique building material is the source of ICEHOTEL, ICEchurch and the Absolute ICEbar. In fact the entire ICEHOTEL is on loan from the mighty river Torne.

http://www.icehotel.com/


Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Spitsbergen, Norway.

Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a secure seedbank located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near the town of Longyearbyen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago, about 1,300 kilometres (810 miles) from the North Pole.

The seedbank is constructed 120 metres (390 ft) inside a sandstone mountain and has been designed to protect 100 million of the world's seeds through fortified concrete and the surrounding mountainous landmass. The Global Seed Vault is prepared to withstand nuclear missile attacks and keep our plants' genetic codes safe. This amazing partially hidden structure has an air of mystery and has a feeling of a lair or an evil base from a comic book.


Timberline Lodge, Oregon, USA.

 
Timberline Lodge is a winter house is located in Oregon, USA. Designed by rhiza A + D Architect, has a different structure to the house in general, designed to combat the high snow drifts that had accumulated at the entrance of each year.

Structures built from a series of parabolic arches, on each curve consists of three segments to allow handling and storage efficient. profile of the entrance is a water-jet cut from a half-inch thick aluminum plate, and to support the double skin translucent polycarbonate panels, each profile associated with ribs welded on, this function to be more durable and replaceable. Timberline Lodge, completed at October 2009.

http://www.timberlinelodge.com
 

Eden Project, Cornwall, UK.

The Eden Project was transformed into Grave’s ice palace in the 2002 James Bond film “Die Another Day”.

Graves’s ice palace is actually in Iceland, the ice chase was filmed here on the frozen Lake Jokulsarlon, near Hofn. The biodome interior is based on the Eden Project, Bodelva, which is a complex of three geodesic domes, four miles east of St Austell in Cornwall.

The real Eden Project, is briefly glimpsed as Jinx (a stunt double, not Halle Berry) rappels down.

Villa V Modern Design Winter House Architecture

A very modern, minimalist structure which may have taken some inspiration from ice cubes perhaps?

 

The Forest Chalet, Minnesota, USA.

These lodges are just minutes from Lutsen Mountain and the North Shore of Lake Superior.

http://www.lutsenlodges.com


Many of these featured projects are inspired by their winter surroundings. Cornwall and Jersey do not have a large amount of snowfall but if we did have a sprinkling this winter a couple of our recent projects would look very much at home…

 
Clowance Estate, Cornwall, UK.

Peter Bayly designed and built the second phase of time share lodges at the Clowance estate. These wouldn’t be out of place near the ski slopes.


Fairlea, Jersey.

The property previously had an unsightly 1950s bungalow within its boundaries. The brief from the client was to gain planning permission to replace this outdated building with a crisp and contemporary luxury dwelling of a significant scale.

The structure and lighting is very dramatic and it gives a real sense of cool and crispness almost reminiscent of an ice palace. The block windows and clean white minimalist design almost reflect ice cubes and snow without the cold temperatures.

See more of our projects on our website http://www.cadarchitects.co.uk/