Scandinavia’s first hotel building certified to FEBY Gold Plus House standard

In Arenastaden, we have developed House of Choice, a multifunctional building comprising the 336-room Comfort Hotel, part of the Nordic Choice Hotels chain, 88 long-stay apartments and Nordic Choice Hotels’ Swedish headquarters.

The building is certified to the FEBY Gold Plus House standard. To meet the criteria, it was designed to minimise heat loss. Heating and cooling are supplied by heat pumps that store and extract energy from a borehole thermal energy storage system.

"The project demonstrates that even large buildings in urban areas can cope with the plus house level and therefore it is encouraging to see pioneers who are prepared to raise the bar for energy-efficient construction."
- Eje Sandberg, Forum for Energy Efficient Construction (FEBY), Februray 2019

Architecture

The 11-storey building was designed by White Arkitekter. A visit to the hotel is intended to inspire more conscious everyday choices, whether guests are staying at the hotel or in a long-stay apartment, working out at the gym or working in the office.

Before construction began, Petter Stordalen, founder of Nordic Choice Hotels, described the ambition for the project:
“We are a company that is not only committed to what happens inside our hotels, but also wants to help find solutions to society’s major challenges. The development in Arenastaden is a shining example of this. We will not only provide our guests with the best possible experiences, but also generate electricity for others, not just ourselves. And it will be renewable electricity.”

The building is a distinctive presence in Arenastaden, with its angled form and dark, textured concrete façade. The façade is divided into an urban brick base, a framework incorporating solar panels and façade lighting, and a shimmering crown that contrasts with the building’s dark exterior. The result is a cohesive volume whose articulated roofline and integrated solar panels reflect the importance placed on energy performance throughout the project.

In February 2019, architect Raimo Joss of White Arkitekter described the design concept as follows:
“Here, you live a little better than you do at home, and you may even take some ideas back with you, perhaps a solar-panelled roof for your house or more conscious choices for your everyday dinner menu. The architecture is permeated by sustainability that can both be seen and experienced.”

The site has been opened up to visitors through lobby areas that create a new social connection from the level of Strawberry Arena down towards Lake Råstasjön and Evenemangsgatan.

House of Choice

Before construction began, Catarina Molén-Runnäs, CEO of Nordic Property Management, described the project’s ambition:
“What we are doing in Solna is unique. It is not the individual components that are unique, although the building includes plenty of exciting technology, such as solar panels, geoenergy, AI, advanced control systems, CO₂ refrigeration and highly efficient heat and energy recovery. What makes it unique is that we are taking a holistic approach to the entire building. The building itself will be able to supply surplus energy to the hotel, which in turn will be operated extremely efficiently.

We are sharing and making joint use of spaces. For the first time, we are realising the synergies between a hotel, offices and homes throughout the day. This is genuine co-working and co-living.

This is going to be fantastic. Best of all, every guest, whether staying at the hotel, working in the office or living in a long-stay apartment, will have access to an outstanding environment with shared public spaces, a gym, a launderette, a restaurant and a bar.”

Sustainability

Nationalarenan 3 is certified to BREEAM-SE Excellent and FEBY Gold Plus House standards. The building has 25 boreholes for geoenergy and almost 2,500 square metres of solar panels installed on its façade and roof. According to the documentation supporting the FEBY certification, the solar panels are expected to generate more electricity over the course of a year than the energy used for the building’s property operations.