Designed by Henning Larsen Architects and SGB, the building will house students in 360 apartments across four blocks in the Norwegian town, host of the 1994 Winter Olympics.

It has been named OPP, which is short for Studentsamskipnaden i Oppland, and is clad in wood from producer Kebony that has been designed to offer resistance to the climate of the mountainous Gudbrandsdal region.

The first students are expected to arrive in early autumn with the Games set to begin on February 12.

Petter Syverud, the development’s project manager, said:  "We wanted to incorporate sustainability into this project, without compromising on the aestheticism or nuance of its design - Kebony provided an opportunity to do just that."

It is estimated that approximately 90 to 95 per cent of the produced heat in a normal year will come from renewable resources while a new plant will produce all of the heat for the internal heating and for hot water. 

Adrian Pye, International Sales Director at Kebony, said: “It is pleasing to see a move towards the use of more sustainable materials like Kebony in the run up to this exciting sporting occasion."   

Preparations have long been underway for the second Winter Youth Olympic Games, which will see 1,100 young athletes from 70 countries gather for 10 days of sports, education and celebration.

Seventy medal events are scheduled with the Games featuring not only sporting competition, but education through the programme "Learn & Share".

Related stories
August 2015:Double Olympic gold medal-winning Norwegian named among Lillehammer 2016 Athlete Role Models 
July 2015: IOC announce winner of Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympic medal design competition
June 2015:  Norwegian snowboarder and ice hockey player named as latest ambassadors for Lillehammer 2016
February 2015: Lillehammer 2016 unveil countdown clock to mark one year to go milestone
December 2015:Lillehammer 2016 mascot named Sjogg