Snøhetta (meaning “snow hood”) is the highest mountain in the Dovrefjell mountain range in central Norway. Norwegian and international transdisciplinary practice Snøhetta shares its name with this remote and picturesque peak.
Snøhetta’s work encompasses architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, art, product, graphic, and digital design. The studio’s first major commission was in 1989 for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt (completed in 2001). From the outset, Snøhetta’s approach has been driven by environmental and cultural concerns. When the studio first began its work, Our Common Future — also known as the “Brundtland Report” — was published in October 1987 by the United Nations. The report was significant for its definition of sustainable development and placed environmental issues firmly on the political agenda. For Snøhetta, the report “became an inspiration to build a positive future.”
Today, Snøhetta has more than 350 employees in nine regional studios across four continents. The studio’s work continues to promote design as a positive agency for sustainable development (even extending to the design of its website). Recognizing the negative impact that buildings and construction have on the climate and wider biodiversity, Snøhetta seeks to build responsibly, promoting positive coexistence between people, plants, and animals: “Each project understands its specific site to best support the natural habitats that are positive for its location. Soils, vegetation, flora and fauna are all important in developing our work,” says Snøhetta.
A key part of Snøhetta’s work is finding viable environmental solutions in the face of a climate emergency, from developing energy-positive structures to improving biodiversity while providing comfortable spaces for occupants and users.
These key architectural projects by Snøhetta highlight the studio’s approach to sustainable development.
Vertikal Nydalen is Norway’s first naturally climatized mixed-use building. The structure incorporates a simplified and self-sufficient climate system, based on research into sustainable energy solutions. Vertikal Nydalen’s design serves as a prime example of environmentally conscious architecture and is described by Snøhetta as a “triple zero solution” building, where no energy is purchased for heating, cooling, and ventilation. “This is achieved using geothermal wells, PV panels, a low-energy system for heating and cooling, and natural ventilation,” says the studio.
Vertikal Nydalen’s development was informed by the results of two research projects, LowEx and Naturally, supported by The Research Council of Norway: “LowEx focuses on heating and cooling with very little added energy, and aims to develop new total concepts for thermal energy supply in zero-energy buildings and energy-positive buildings,” Snøhetta explains. “Naturally, with 13 participants from the Norwegian construction industry, focuses on developing new strategies for natural ventilation.”
Orionis planetarium and observatory
The Orionis planetarium and observatory is located in the city of Douai in northern France. The building’s design is based on the concept of continuous movement and is linked throughout by a slightly inclined ramp, visible from the outside. Orionis sits between the adjacent Scarpe river, the Arkéos archaeological museum, and a nearby residential complex, and is designed to connect these varied elements.
Sustainability played a key role in the planetarium's design: the use of locally sourced materials minimizes the project’s carbon footprint; geothermal energy provides heating in winter and cooling in summer; sunshades help to regulate temperature; and sensors fitted on openings allow for intelligent natural ventilation. Linking with its surroundings, the landscape design for Orionis promotes biodiversity; the roof is planted with wild grass, improving air quality and carbon sequestration as well as contributing to stormwater management.
Seeking to reinstate the library’s relevance to public life in a digital age, Snøhetta’s design for Beijing City Library offers a fresh vision for how a library can look and function. A huge load-bearing glass facade invites nature into the reading spaces while terraced hills and a valley serve as both shelving and informal seating. A series of tall tree-like columns punctuate this valley and hills: “The overlapping panels and the interstitial glass inserts create a canopy-like roof that floods the interiors with filtered daylight,” says Snøhetta.
The design of Beijing City Library considers how libraries can address the climate emergency while incorporating innovative technology to improve the visitor experience. By minimizing both embodied and operational carbon, the library achieved China’s Green Building Evaluation Label (GBEL) 3 Star (equivalent to LEED Platinum).
Modular components and a rationalized structural grid reduced manufacturing waste; technology integrated into the tree-like columns works to control the library’s interior climate, lighting, and acoustics; columns on the building’s exterior collect rainwater from the roof for irrigation; and large roof overhangs lessen solar gain on the glass facade (which uses insulated Low-E glass).
Snøhetta designed a head office for international trekking and adventure travel company ASI Reisen that reflects the company’s culture and commitment to sustainable trekking experiences. Located in Natters, a village just south of Innsbruck, Austria, the four-story timber building is inspired by a symbiosis between nature and humanity.
The building’s facade was preserved using yakisugi, a traditional Japanese method of wood preservation that uses charring to waterproof wood, improve its durability, and protect against insects. The timber structure is surrounded by a range of warm weather and evergreen plant species, growing on a suspended metal frame. This green facade shades the head office’s large glass surfaces; changing throughout the year, it also adapts to seasonal thermal insulation needs, reduces the energy required to cool the building, and improves biodiversity.
Additional solutions that enable the building’s long-term and low environmental footprint include: a reversible air-water heat pump system; sensors that control natural ventilation using thermal lift and wind pressure conditions to circulate fresh air; and rooftop PV panels.
The Powerhouse Brattørkaia in Trondheim is described as “the world’s northernmost energy-positive building.” The building produces more energy than it will consume over its lifespan, from construction (including the embodied energy of its myriad materials) to demolition. Snøhetta carefully chose the site for Powerhouse Brattørkaia to maximize sun exposure: the skewed roof and upper part of the facade are clad with almost 3,000 square meters (32,292 square feet) of solar panels.
This highly energy efficient building utilizes a range of technologies to reduce its daily energy requirements, including: intelligent solutions that use airflow to reduce the need for heating, the reuse of grey water, and the use of seawater for heating and cooling. Moreover, the building’s thermal mass (low-emission concrete) absorbs and retains heat and cold, helping to regulate temperature.
“On average, Powerhouse Brattørkaia produces more than twice as much electricity as it consumes daily, and will supply renewable energy to itself, its neighboring buildings, electric buses, cars, and boats through a local microgrid,” says Snøhetta.
