ARCHITECTURE

CREATING THE ICEFJORD CENTRE

Ilulissat is situated on the West coast of Greenland at the Disco Bay – 250 km north of the polar circle. The ice fjord is a spectacular place with an exceptional nature. As a visitor at the ice fjord you have the opportunity of experiencing one of the worlds most actively calving glaciers and with your own eyes acknowledge the undeniable presence of the climate changes. It is in this unique natural habitat, which was placed on the UNESCO world heritage list in 2004, that the visionary building project of the Icefjord Centre began in 2019. Ilulissat Icefjord Centre opened its doors for guests for the first time in July 2021.

Inside the centre guests are taken on a journey through time in the exhibition ”Sermeq pillugu Oqaluttuaq – The Story of the Ice”, which has been designed by the award winning JAC studios. In the exhibition you pass through a landscape of snowflakes, where archeological artifacts are presented in prisms of glass.

Building the Icefjord Centre – Part 1

REALDANIA VIDEO

Building the Icefjord Centre – Part 2

REALDANIA VIDEO

Building the Icefjord Centre – Part 3

REALDANIA VIDEO

THE ARCHITECTURE

The Icefjord Centre is designed by the architect Dorte Mandrup and was initiated in 2019. The total area of the building is 1.500 square meters, where 900 are heated and 400 are used as exhibition space. The house accommodates an exhibition, a café and a shop.

The building is constructed of steel, wood and glass where the steel constitutes the bearing structure of 52 steel frames. Every steel frame has a unique geometrical shape that together creates its characteristic bent structure. Floors, roof, the outdoor terraces and deck, together with a large amount of the interior surfaces are made of wood which gives the house a natural warmth. The primary sort of wood that has been used is european oak, which is resilient and durable in the arctic climate.

Because the Icefjord centre is located in the arctic where very low temperatures occur, heating has been a central consideration in the building process. The building is very well isolated and is being heated CO2-neutrally with green energy from Ilulissat water power plant.