First prize invited competition 2010

The 290-room hotel is located in an exposed area where the Tromsø Bridge and the Arctic Cathedral are prominent elements that fit nicely into the typically distinctive northern Norwegian landscape. The Arctic Cathedral (by Jan Inge Hovig) is of great relevance, and we have sought to create a dialogue between the cathedral and the new hotel. In this connection, we have carefully pulled the hotel's head back to create a clear and distinct signature building that will stand out in the city. Along with its structure, the new hotel will have some of the same characteristics as the cathedral; it will be clean, simple, with easy-to-understand shapes and distinctive sharp lines.

The hotel stands boldly against the quay front, and tapers towards the city behind. The hotel consists of an entrance foyer, reception and restaurant on the ground and first floors, with conference facilities on a lower floor which includes auditoriums, and ten floors of guest rooms.

The main form is composed of separate wings with a building structure and a shell that vary in height and are placed at angles to each other, creating a series of break points where the change in direction gives openings to lounges on the upper floors and wings of internal corridors that provide access to the guest rooms. At ground level, the quay and water's edge are drawn fully into the building, with a foyer stepped with terraces that allow the water level to be seen from all parts of the reception and public interior.