MINARC have reached the shortlist with a third incredible project, Northern Lights, situated within The Ion Luxury Adventure Hotel. The bar will compete for the bar/club/lounge awards in The International Hotel and Property Awards 2013.

Overall description of the project: On an island where fire meets ice, comes a new lounge where nothing comes between you and this otherworldly landscape.

Northern Lights is situated within The Ion Luxury Adventure Hotel

Design brief: It’s difficult to think of a better way for the modern adventurer to relax and enjoy the otherworldly phenomenon known as the aurora borealis than from the bar and lounge named after nature’s ethereal lightshow—the Northern Lights bar and lounge at the Ion Hotel. Perched atop a series of high-seat pillars in the midst of a remote lava field where Mount Hengill and Thingvellir National Park converge, the Northern Lights bar, with its doubleheight floor to ceiling windows, offers unobstructed views of breathtaking Lake Thingvallavatn and, when conditions are just right, the intensely vivid dancing lights of the north.

Hanging lights created from recycled corrugated cardboard illuminate the bar and lounge area

Natural and recycled materials and sustainable practices have been used extensively throughout the comfortable lounge. Chairs and couches are built from recycled wood and tables from reclaimed pallets. Meanwhile, hanging lights created from recycled corrugated cardboard illuminate the bar and lounge area. The modest decor of the Northern Lights bar and lounge, with its use of natural light and panoramic views, creates a sense of harmony with the world outside. Here, there are no boundaries between the modern adventurer and the many wonders of this mystical place we call Iceland.

Doubleheight floor to ceiling windows offers unobstructed views of breathtaking Lake Thingvallavatn and, when conditions are just right, the intensely vivid dancing lights of the north

Favourite / key aspect of the project: The design utilizes natural and local materials and is surrounded by floor to ceiling windows, connecting the inside to the outside environs.

Why does the design work so well? The new lounge floats above the steam beneath where the hotel spa is located and creates a floating feeling within the hotel.