Contained within the meandering main tract are the exhibition spaces, a hall for various events, a cafe and research facilities. The route to the entrance leads between high walls of snow. To resist the loading (up to 1.5 tonnes/m²), the outer skin of the building was constructed in 6 mm weather-resisting steel sheeting welded in-situ to the structural steel columns and beams. For the execution of this work, the skills of a company specializing in boat construction were required. The enclosing skin consists of two structurally discrete layers, rather like a thermos flask. Subject to temperatures of up to 45 °C in summer, the outer skin was constructed in such a way that it can expand horizontally by as much as 20 cm. This was achieved by creating flexible connections, with stainless-steel panels fixed between the steel columns and the foundations. Although the load-bearing structure is rigidly anchored at only three points, this ensures that the building ultimately returns to its original position. The plasterboard partitions are fixed to a separate supporting structure and are not affected by the movements of the outer skin. Air circulates in the roughly 56 cm intermediate space between the two layers – warm air in winter, cool air in summer – thereby avoiding extremes of temperature indoors. The winding route through the museum is reminiscent of the paths in the woods outside. At those points where the building changes direction, room-height windows afford visitors a vivid impression of the actual theme of the exhibition, namely the surrounding world of nature. The largest of the four windows is 14.5 x 4 m in size and weighs almost four tonnes. According to the architects, the 75 mm perspex was the only transparent material capable of resisting the extreme loads.
