Architect Margot Krasojevic has designed an ice rink facility on a Russian lake that will use the power of the sun and geothermal energy to keep the surface frozen all year round.
The ‘Liquid Skating Photovoltaic Ice Skating Rink’ will be located high in the mountains of the Kamchatka peninsula – a popular tourist hotspot due to its volcanic terrain, nature reserves and hot springs.
Krasojevic’s client, China Film House, wants to take advantage of this popularity by building a 2,500sq m (26,900sq ft) multi-purpose leisure scheme on the site, with an outdoor cinema, a natural geothermal spa and the outdoor ice rink on the lake.
Winter temperatures average 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-6 degrees Celsius), meaning the lake remains frozen over the winter months and can be used for hockey tournaments and as a skate park.
Krasojevic and her eponymous design studio were challenged with developing a system to keep the rink usable when the days begin to get warmer.
Their solution is self-sufficient and environmentally friendly, with no need for harmful refrigerants or the creation of Carbon dioxide.
Renewable energy will be generated by solar-capturing photovoltaic cells attached to a striated canopy above the rink. By absorbing much of the location's bright sunlight, they will prevent the ice rink from melting. Further electricity will be created by geothermal turbines located in the nearby hot springs. This power will be recycled through the grid and used to keep the lake at a frozen temperature.
The rink will be flooded from below the surface to keep it frozen and strengthen the ice, while a biodegradable LED net spanning the net will provide further support.
Capacitors will store the electrical energy for nighttime use, when there is a downshift in electrical consumption.
As well as keeping the rink in use all year round, the innovative energy system will also power a unique solar cinema. A projector in the canopy will display films on the frozen surfaces of the rink. When not used for cinematic screenings, it can be used to animate the venue for sports or wellness events.
Krasojevic’s design of the facility is intended to reflect “the fluid nature and ever-changing state of the immediate environment.” The ice rink is partly enclosed by a sequence of striated cedar wood sections, the forms of which mimic frozen water, or moments captured from a choreographed continuous ice skating movement – “like the blades the sections cut through and across the lake.”
Foldable seating units will be spread around the main frame of the rink, creating a series of flexible spaces.
The tender process has begun to find construction and engineering partners to construct the facility.
A second stage of the project is also being considered, which would adapt the rink to be powered completely by solar energy generated in the Mongolian desert, located to the west of the peninsula.
Describing her philosophy, Krasojevic said: “Sustainability and smart materials are an inherent part of the design process, dictating the terms of the architectural design criteria rather than referring to sustainable technology as a polite afterthought.”
Renewable energy is increasingly being used for its capacity to freeze. Last year saw the opening of Icehotel 365 in the Swedish village of Jukkasjärvi. Despite its walls, floors and ceiling being made exclusively from ice and snow,
a refrigerating plant powered by solar energy maintains a temperature of minus five degrees Celsius in the warmer months.
