Architecture of a Shelter - Between Individual and a Group Needs.

A refuge addresses the broadly understood need for safety as well as - in the mental sense - an asylum. Newly designed polar station helps its inhabitants to adapt, offers comfort, and is easy to transport. Unified shape allows for modifications and customisation to the needs of an individual while invariably providing its key role of a shelter and home.

The polar station is a unique construction, touching and expanding many borders. On the one hand it is a barrier between internal environment of the refuge area and the extreme climate of Arctic. On the other hand we have to deal with difficult, oftentimes complicated relations between members of the group subjected to many negative influences of arctic isolation. These people often cannot cope and adapt to such a new and challenging situation. Third issue is the character of work at the polar station, which makes it almost impossible to distinguish work time from leisure time, office space from home. It is necessary for the designed building to have a scale and form that is not overwhelming. It should be comprehensible and clear to its user, offer space gradation and appropriate proportions between private space and areas dedicated for social gatherings. The rhythmical division of the building into a smaller modules – houses – provide their inhabitants with a comfortable private space and allows smaller groups to form, which in the end encourage closer relations between residents. The modular structure is easier to transport. Tectonics of the shape optically decrease the size of the building making its scale more human-friendly. The materials used in this project are crucial. Wood through its qualities such as structure, texture and colour enhances the feeling of comfort and generate positive perception of the overall surroundings. Even though a refuge is often associated with a closed structure, it does not necessarily need to be isolated from the external environment. Elevation and division of the shape of the building with horizontal windows provides a spectacular views of a barren landscape. It allows researchers to observe environment with a sense of control from the safety of their shelter. Gable roofs are distinctive elements of the design. They enable snow fall and allude to the context of the place – traditional Norwegian architecture. Their soaring design corresponds well with the mountain landscape that surrounds the station and creates a distinctive shape of the house at the pole.