The workers' barracks are a rectangular two-storey construction. They all have gable roofs with a slight roof angle and roof ridges running parallel with the predominant direction of the wind down the valley. The construction is half-timbering covered with horizontal boarding. There are entrances on both the gable walls, an interior staircase and lengthwise supporting walls that extend right through the building. The workers' barracks were intended for 72 men, divided into twin rooms on either side of the central corridor and there were no communal areas other than a laundry room on the ground floor.

The buildings have wooden pile foundations that raise the barracks above the ground, thrusting through the active tundra layer and down into the permafrost. This prevents warmth from the building infiltrating down and thawing the permafrost underneath, weakening its stability as a result. All the barracks in Nybyen were built within a short period within strict economic boundaries. The design was simple funcationalism and the materials used were rough. The barracks are suited to the harsh climate, with short roof projections and minimal decoration, and also have features in common with the sobriety that was typical of the post-war reconstruction architecture on the mainland as well.