On December 16 the entire Icehotel was finished on the riverbank in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. With its 35 uniquely designed art and deluxe suites, ice bar, ice chapel and ice gallery, the guests are welcomed to experience more art than ever in Icehotel’s history. When one part of the hotel melts come spring, the ice bar, ice gallery and 20 suites remain in the permanent part – Icehotel 365.
All Year Round Icehotel 365
The Icehotel was an annual project that required the building of a new structure each winter since 1992. The hotel disappeared as soon as it melted away after the winter. Now, the all year round Icehotel 365 is a specially designed 2,100 square meter ice art hall, which houses 20 suites, an ice bar, a sculpture gallery, chapel and event hall – open 365 days of the year and runs on solar power from the midnight sun.
The new Icehotel 365 is next to the Icehotel (the one which melts away by spring) in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden – 200km north of the Arctic Circle. Construction of both properties involves the use of around 30,000 litres of water from the river Torne: the equivalent of 700 million snowballs.
The Icehotel 365 is a ground-breaking new structure, powered by 728 solar powered panels, that will enable visitors to sleep amidst ice and snow all year around. In the all year round ICEHOTEL 365, there are 20 permanent suites where guests can sleep on a bed made of ice at -5C, 365 days a year. There are also both cold rooms and warm rooms at the hotel.
Over 70 artists, designers and architects from 15 countries around the world, have created the art in this year’s version of Icehotel which just opened in November.
above: The hotel entrance.
above: The hotel chapel
During winter, the hotel will be covered in snow but during the summer it will be kept cool by solar power from the midnight sun, covered with a turf roof and planted with Arctic flowers.
The Art Suites
The art suites are individually designed and sculpted thematic suites by various artists from all over the world.
One of the most dramatic suites in the hotel has been designed and built by British architects Alex Haw and Aditya Bhatt from Atmos Studio in London (the only ‘rookies’ who had never worked with ice and snow before).
Art Suite Dreamscape by Atmos studio’s Alex Haw and Aditya Bhatt:
Their suite ‘Dreamscape’ features a daring staircase of pure ice that winds from its entrance up towards a floating frozen bed, passing through an ‘explosion of snow tentacles’ to become a welcoming bed held aloft far above the floor.
Art Suite You Are My Type by John Bark and Charli Kasselbäck, inspired by typography:
Art Suite Dancers in the Dark by Tjåsa Gusfors and Patrick Dallard:
Art Suite Acanthus by Tomasz Czajkowski and Eryk Marks:
Art Suite Oh Deer by Ulrika Tallving and Carl Wellander:
Art Suite Ikebana by brothers Hugh and Howard Miller:
Art Suite Into The Ice by Shingo and Natsuki Saito:
Art Suite Lapland Waves by Luca Roncornini:
Art Suite Casa-Blanca by Les Jardinieres Nomades:
Art Suite Audience Sculptural relief by Edith van de Wetering and Wilfred Stijgels:
Art Suite White Cathedral by Nicolas Tribulaut and Fernand Manzi:
Art Suite In the Maelstrom by Ida Mangsbo and Elin Julin:
Art Suite “House of Cards” by Stephanie Knödler and Martina Eriksson:
Deluxe Suites
The deluxe suites, which are larger than the art suites, have a heated en-suite bathroom (four with bathtubs), private sauna and warm changing area adjacent to the ice bedroom so guests can store their luggage and change comfortably.
This gives guests the chance to combine the adventure of sleeping on ice with the luxury of warm private bathroom facilities.
Deluxe Suite Once Upon A Time by artists Luc Voisin and Mathieu Brison:
Deluxe Suite ‘The Victorian Apartment‘ by Luca Roncoroni:
Deluxe Suite Meltdown by Rob Harding and Fabian Jacquet:
Deluxe Suite Kiss by Kestutis Musteikis and Vytautas Musteikis:
Deluxe Suite Wishful Thinking by Artists Marjolein Vonk and Maurizio Perron:
Deluxe Suite Don’t Get Lost by Tommy Alatalo:
The only permanent suite I cannot find a photo of is the “One Thousand and One Nights” by the Iranian sculptor Sahand Hesamiyan and his partner Mona Hosseini.
The rooms with ice décor have a bed made of ice and keep a temperature of -5 to -8 degrees Celsius. The bed you sleep on has a thick mattress that rests on a wooden base and is covered with reindeer hides and you sleep in a thermal sleeping bag.
Instead of doors the hotel rooms have curtains that you draw to give you and your company privacy. Your luggage is stored in the luggage storage room prior to your overnight stay. There are communal changing rooms, toilets and saunas for women and men in the warm section of ICEHOTEL 365.
And yes, they do have warm rooms.
There’s even an Icehotel retail shop for souvenirs (within the EU only).
photos © Asaf Kliger, courtesy of Icehotel
