With the steel framed structure and load-bearing sheets designed and manufactured by Ruukki, the installation of the world's largest indoor ski centre in Norway has commenced in Lørenskog near Oslo.
The steel structure design used to complete the architectural creation is based entirely on Ruukki’s own design. The company has a long and successful track record in the design and manufacture of complex steel structures.
“Over the past two years we have worked closely with the customer and taken the project forward. The design, manufacture and installation of the structures have all progressed to schedule. This is real testimony to what can be achieved with close, well-functioning collaboration at an early stage,” explains Petri Nieminen, SVP, Ruukki Building Systems.
The ski centre is spread over six storeys and houses a snow-covered area of around 40,000 square metres - the same size as five football pitches. The downhill ski slope is 505 metres long and 100 metres wide at its widest point. The height difference is 90 metres. The slope will be equipped with three ski lifts with a combined capacity of 5,000 skiers and hour. A cross-country ski track of about one kilometre in length and five metres wide will be built and suspended from roof structures at the lower end of the downhill slope. The ski track will comprise of 120 components and weigh about 400 tonnes.
A future challenge is that the indoor ski centre is being built into a slope following the contours of the landscape. The building must take into account landscaping restrictions and integrate into the surroundings, without blocking the view of residential housing.
Additionally to the downhill ski slope, the ski complex includes a hotel, dwellings and a winter academy. The complex has been designed by the Norwegian architects office Halvorsen & Reine AS and the planned opening for the downhill ski slope is scheduled for early 2020.