Engineering with Snowcrete
The Hôtel de Glace is made of temporary materials engineering. Its primary construction material is not naturally fallen snow; it is too dry and airy for building. Instead, the construction team produces over 30,000 tons of artificial snow on-site. This manufactured snow has a higher humidity and density, allowing it to be packed into a substance that hardens to a consistency similar to ice.
Construction begins once the temperature stays below freezing for a week, often in early December. A crew of about 50 people works for six weeks to erect the structure. The first step is creating a five-foot-thick floor deck capable of supporting the immense weight. To form the walls and ceilings, the dense snow is blown onto large, arched metal molds. After the snow is packed into place, it requires a waiting period of about three days to solidify and gain structural integrity through a process called sintering, where ice crystals bond together. Once a section is solid, the molds, which are mounted on jacks and skis, are lowered and dragged to the next location according to the architectural plan.