Krystall Clear: Waterstudio’s Snowflake Hotel

Imagine watching the Northern Lights through the roof of a floating glass snowflake. It’s not as fantastical as you might think, with Dutch firm Waterstudio recently unveiling plans to install a floating snowflake-shaped hotel off the coast of Tromsø, Norway. The prefab design for the Krystall Hotel visualises a simple glass building that will allow guests to receive unobstructed views of the Northern Lights from their room.

According to the prefab project’s architects, the structure’s large basis and unique shape provide adequate stability but additional technology with ‘dampers, springs and cables is used to take away any acceleration.’ What is equally impressive is that the entire building will be prefabricated in sections before being assembled on location, thereby reducing the environmental impact in what the firm calls a ‘scarless development’.

Consisting of 86 rooms, the Krystall will offer the same look and feel as a luxury hotel on land, complete with a wellness centre, spa and conference rooms. While the final location won’t be revealed until a full environmental impact assessment has been completed, the developers have confirmed that the hotel will be open before the end of 2016.