Sweden’s ICEHOTEL Will Now Be Open Year-Round Thanks to Solar Panels

Every year since the winter of 1989-1990, sculptors have erected a seasonal hotel made entirely of ice from the Torne River in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. And each year, when spring came, the ice installation would melt. This year, however, brings a new era for the famous hotel, as contemporist reports. In addition to the seasonal hotel, there will be year-round lodgings made of ice.

During warmer weather, the ICEHOTEL 365 will be cooled using solar panel technology. The 22,600-square-foot hotel—with each room sculpted by a different international artist—will be kept at around 23°F year-round. Since the city is so far north, about 125 miles north of the Arctic Circle, the summer brings near-constant daylight. According to the hotel, by the end of the summer, the solar panels will harvest the equivalent of 100 consecutive days of sunshine.

The hotel will have concrete outer walls, but the inner walls will all be made of ice. The power created by all the approximately 6500 square feet of solar panels will be able to power restaurants, offices, and the warm rooms that allow guests to defrost from the icy rooms, in addition to keeping the structure from melting. The hotel notes that as climate change makes winters shorter, this system will keep the ICEHOTEL from being forced to close earlier and earlier.

And now if you can’t get a reservation in the winter, you can schedule a visit for any other time of the year.

[h/t contemporist]

All images courtesy ICEHOTEL