Svalbard Global Seed Vault: Construction of the year 2008
Historical archive
Published under: Stoltenberg's 2nd Government
Publisher: Ministry of Agriculture and Food
News story | Date: 27/03/2009
Svalbard Global Seed Vault: The Norwegian construction company Leonhard Nilsen & Sønner, that built Svalbard Global Seed Vault, recently received the prize for best Construction 2008 during "Byggedagene" in Oslo, Norway.
Svalbard Global Seed Vault: Construction of the year 2008
Svalbard Global Seed Vault: The Norwegian construction company Leonhard Nilsen & Sønner, that built Svalbard Global Seed Vault, recently received the prize for best Construction 2008 during "Byggedagene" in Oslo, Norway.
Svalbard Global Seed Vault lies about 1 kilometre from Longyearbyen Airport as the crow flies, at about 130 metres above sea level and consists entirely of an underground facility, blasted out of the permafrost (at about minus 3-4 degrees Celsius). The facility is designed to have an almost “endless” lifetime.
Three underground chambers |
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The storage chambers themselves are reached via an access tunnel about 100 metres long, with an entrance portal on its outside. The entrance portal will be the only visible part of the facility. It is in the form of a long, narrow concrete “fin”, with an entrance of brushed steel. An artistic decoration on the outer roof surface and on the upper part of the front will partly reflect the polar light and partly give off a muted, glowing light. The artistic decoration is made by the Norwegian artist Dyveke Sanne.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is financed by three Norwegian Ministries:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The Seed Vault is built and technically operated by The Directorate of Public Construction and Property.
Svalbard Global Seed Vault: The Norwegian construction company Leonhard Nilsen & Sønner, that built Svalbard Global Seed Vault, recently received the prize for best Construction 2008.