Property developer Dutch Docklands has a very unique specialty -- it only designs structures that float on water. Its latest project is a hotel that will allow guests to float in a giant snowflake underneath the Northern Lights.

The Krystall Floating Hotel will be made from glass and will have 86 rooms that allow guests to observe the Aurora Borealis from their beds. Work is due to start on it in the middle of 2015 and a 5-star hotel operator is due to open it before Christmas 2016.

Hotel guests will only be able to reach the structure by boat, and although it is not known exactly where it will be situated, it will be near to Tromso, placing it within reach of an international airport.


The snowflake design will be built in pieces in dry docks, before being assembled on location. Supposedly the base of the structure is so large that guests will be unable to feel any movement on board -- so no need to fear seasickness. The shape of the structure will also provide an extra layer of stability, and it will be reinforced with dampers, springs and cables. While Ditch Docklands isn't able to reveal the overall cost of the project, it says it will be about 15 percent more expensive than it would be to build it on land.

Dutch Docklands is behind several other floating hotels, including several in the Maldives, which it has developed in conjunction with the Government of the Maldives.

"Dutch Docklands headquarters is based in Holland which has learned to live with the water instead of fighting it. Floating houses are common in the Netherlands but we take that technology abroad and scale it up in size," Koen Olthuis, founder of Dutch Docklands' preferred architecture company Waterstudio, tells Wired.co.uk.


Dutch Docklands/Waterstudio

There will be plenty of 5-star facilities built into the hotel, but its main attraction is obviously that it offers the potential to see the Northern Lights. "The Northern Lights is the main feature for the hotel. Without the light we would not have chosen this location on water. It is far enough away from disturbing city lights," says Olthuis.

The project will aim to be self-supporting and self-sustainable and will also aim for "scarless development". This is helped by the fact the boat is floating and therefore has minimal impact on the location. The idea is that if it is ever removed, it won't cause any lasting mark on its location -- just like the Dutch Docklands in the Maldives. Its commitment to ecological preservation makes it ideal for such sensitive regions that also benefit from tourism.