Raised on 390 steel poles to withstand the rough arctic climate, the Svalbard Science Centre is ready to unite the comprehensive university and research facilities on the Norwegian islands. King Harald opened what is Longyearbyen's largest building on 26 April.
02/05/2006 :: With its 8 500 square metres, the new Svalbard Science Centre comprises an expansion of the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), new space for the Norwegian Polar Institute, a cultural and historical storage area for the Governor of Svalbard, as well as new space for the Svalbard Museum.
- Despite its relatively short history Longyearbyen has already several monumental buildings and land marks, said Øivind Christoffersen, administrative director for Statsbygg- The Directorate of Public Construction and Property that headed the project. Longyearbyen celebrates its 100 year anniversary as a community in 2006.
The new star-shaped building is designed for the arctic climate on Svalbard. The Research Centre is raised up on 390 steel poles to allow snow and winds to pass freely underneath the building, and the shape of the building is designed to fit into the landscape and weather the wind and snow storms.
Research
UNIS will be the main institution at the new Research Centre and with several thousand additional square feet at their disposal, the administration hopes that more students will be tempted to complete their studies at 78 degrees north. 330 students from 25 nations spent time at the University Centre in 2005. The capacity today is at 550 students annually.
"This is a great building. There will be many interesting activities in the time to come," said the director at UNIS, Lasse Lønnum to the paper Aftenposten.
The Research Council of Norway also believes the new centre can strengthen the international research environment on Svalbard.
"Svalbard has the highest research activity of all the locations in the arctic. We notice a growing international participation rate. We are convinced that gathering the resources at the Svalbard Research Centre will contribute to further strengthen Norwegian polar research," said Director Kirsten Broch Mathisen at the Research Council of Norway on the council's homepage.
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs