Clarion Hotel Energy by Snohetta Architects Showcases Industrial History

Ian Mutuli
Updated on
Ian Mutuli

Ian Mutuli

Founder and Managing Editor of Archute. He is also a graduate architect from The University of Nairobi, Kenya.
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Snohetta’s design for the Clarion Hotel Energy was completed and opened for guests on August 20th 2014. Located in Stavanger, Norway, the hotel stands as an architectural landmark and one of the attractions in the area.

Commissioned for a volume and concept study to design the hotel and conference center, Snohetta architects wanted to reintroduce the town’s history as a former center for the fishing and canning industries. They chose to design the building as two distinct volumes in one to emphasize the industrialism of the Stavanger town.

The building’s volume is divided into two with each volume having separate functions and with distinct aesthetic characters too. The first volume covers two stories with a large base in terms of area and constructed from concrete. The roof cover was made from river stone. This two-story volume consists of public areas like the foyer, restaurant and a conference center.

Alongside this volume, parking was incorporated around the base of the building for bikes since Norway is largely a cycling nation especially the town of Stavanger where vehicles are not a very common phenomena.

The second volume is right above the first volume and unlike the first volume’s distinct concrete with tile cladding characters, the second one is quite distinct in terms of height and cladding materials. This volume facilitates 410 hotel rooms in a lamella volume with a tilted roof extending from its highest point of 7 stories to its lowest point of 5 stories towards the south of the site.

The interiors of the rooms are distinct despite the use of similar furniture. From each room visitors can enjoy the views of the town and the serene landscape while at the same time relishing the timber-inspired floor finish. Views are further enhanced where the lamella volume slopes from 7th floor to 5th floor generating a nice artificial scenery created by the building’s own design.

The lamella volume’s exterior façade has been designed with reflective metal of natural anodized aluminum as a seal of Stavanger’s history of one of the former industrialized areas to have participated in the fishing and canning industry.

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Project Information
Architects: Snohetta
Location: Stavanger, Norway
Client: AB Invest
Status: Completed
Size: 19, 194 sq. metres
Photographs: Snohetta

Ian Mutuli

About the author

Ian Mutuli

Founder and Managing Editor of Archute. He is also a graduate architect from The University of Nairobi, Kenya.
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