Nye Kirkenes Sykehus, Kirkenes – A Hospital North of the Arctic Circle

In the very northeast of Norway, on the border with Finland and Russia, an extraordinary hospital was built with "Nye Kirkenes Sykehus". Extraordinary because the entire building was constructed in modular design and meets the passive house standard, including the very high requirements for thermal insulation and heat recovery. The three-storey building provides space for an ambulance, operating theatres, radiology laboratories, patient rooms and a surgical, medical and psychiatric polyclinic.
Thanks to the modular design, the construction time in Sykehus itself has been reduced enormously. This is an important factor for construction work there, as weather and lighting conditions are far from being optimal for most of the year. The polar night alone lasts from the end of November to mid-January in this region.
In the design of the AHUs, both the quick and easy installation on site and the transport were taken into account. The AHUs covered more than 3,000 km on their way to Kirkenes, partly by truck and partly by ship. The housing characteristics, such as the tightness of the AHUs in combination with heat recovery, enable the AHUs to operate very efficiently. This is a central component in achieving the desired passive house standard.