Europe’s largest indoor ski arena opens to the public at Lørenskog Winter Park, Norway

SNØ Oslo ski hall in Lørenskog, Norway, celebrated its opening to the public with a party on Wednesday 29 January.

The largest indoor ski venue in Europe, and the best in the world, provides both for fun and for all-year professional training in downhill, cross-country and free skiing as well as snowboarding.

The 37,000m² ski hall includes a 500m alpine ski-slope and lifts which can carry as many as 5,000 people per hour to the summit. The development is unique for its 2km-long cross-country slope over three floors. The building's design is inspired by the form and texture of arctic glaciers.

SNØ Oslo is the first phase and core of Chapman Taylor's Winter Park masterplan. The 140,000m² complex includes a conference hotel with 350 rooms, a service centre for skis and equipment, service rooms for clubs and teams, classrooms and offices, as well as commercial premises and a sports academy for Norwegian ski sports. Several elements of the masterplan are currently under construction and will open later this year.

The developers, Selvaag, recognised Chapman Taylor's world-beating masterplanning expertise, including our previous work on the popular Madrid Snowdome at Madrid Xanadu Retail and Leisure Centre, which is why we were selected to work on this pioneering Norwegian scheme.

Chapman Taylor’s Madrid studio designed the masterplan for the entire Winter Park, as well as the planning and concept design for the SNØ indoor ski hall, in collaboration with the renowned Norwegian architect Prof. Thomas Thiis-Evensen.