Solar Observatory Visitor Center
Site: Svalbard, Norway
The program for this design includes an office, a cafe, an exhibition space, and a solar hall. The main focus for this design was how to incorporate natural light for the three months that it is available, and electrical light throughout the “midnight sun” months. The suns’ horizontal 360 degree path resulted in the buildings windows being exclusively on its vertical walls.
The secondary focus in this project was the relationship between the observatory and the mountain that encompasses it. The majority of the natural sunlight for this design comes from the two large windows facing north that whilst lighting up the spaces within the building -also showcase the progression of the building moving outside of the mountains envelope.
Electrical light used for the light studies mimic the colors of the “midnight sun” as well as the northern lights, bringing the sky into the building during the dark months. Additionally, by using an interstitial chamber underneath the observatory hall the electrical light is able to brighten the hallway from under the floor, effectively bringing the “sky” from above to below.