A magnificent view with Deltabeam
"We are very happy with being part of this fantastic project", says Jason Martin, Managing Director of Peikko Sweden. The buildings will stand on the mountain 724 meters above sea level and the view is sure to be breathtaking! A consortium of eight local companies forms Kiruna Showroom AB, with Tuomo Huuriainen as Chairman of the Board. The company NCC is responsible for the construction.
The architect of Kiruna Showroom, Lars Sundström from GKAK AB, has been working with the project right from the start. The purpose was to increase the attractiveness of Kiruna town and better utilize the unique winter landscape and possibilities the Kiruna area offers visitors. "We wanted to attract a world audience", Lars Sundström describes. "The shape of the building was created during a trip to Holland together with representatives from all eight companies of the consortium. The idea was to design a landmark, a building to inspire fantasies, a construction that would be easy to see and recognize already from a distance, both on a ground level and from the air."
Glass and magnetite mirror Swedish winter
The unique design of Kiruna Showroom will comprise a total of 1200 square meters. The building materials have been chosen to reflect the nature, atmosphere, and unique characteristics of Kiruna. The exterior has a theme of glass and magnetite to mirror the contrasts of winter colours with ice and snow against the black and grey mountain. Inside the building, the magnetite is striking, but there are also other details of interior decoration that have been inspired by water, snow, ice, stone, and lava. Sundström tells that the construction has been challenging both technically as well as aesthetically. "The steel frame needs to convey more than just being a load bearing structure. All the columns and beams serve an aesthetic purpose as well and have been designed with great deliberation".
Per-Anders Klockars, Design Engineer at A²H, describes the three main parts of the construction - a concrete foundation, a steel frame, and a façade of glass. "It has been an extremely challenging project technically", he says. "So much has never been done before and there is very little previous building experience of the things we are planning to do in the special conditions of this artic area. On the top of Luossavaara mountain, one must be ready for winds of up to 50-60 m/s as well as extreme differences in temperature, with winter temperatures as low as -40°C."
The strengths of the winds make it necessary to dimension the column and beam systems so that the force hitting one level of the building is spread out to the other levels. Totally 18 Deltabeams, 173 meters altogether, are delivered to Kiruna Showroom. The construction work is ongoing at full speed and is estimated to be ready during the autumn of 2008, and the entire Kiruna Showroom will be completed next year. Be ready to book your room with a view!