Discipline : Architecture
Categories :
Residential Building / Cottage & Country House
: Gold certification
Categories :
Commercial Building / Hotel & Resort
: Gold certification
Categories :
Special Award / Architecture + Glass
: Gold certification
This project was of course a particular challenge due to its unique location. At some 3.000 meters in the Swiss Alps it is probably the cabin at the highest altitude in Europe, in private ownership. The building sits on an outcrop on the dramatic mountainside, which is the singular protected position amongst avalanches, either in the form of ice and snow, or rocks.
At some distance on the south side of the mountain the Verbier ski lifts pass by on their way to the highest point of the area – Mont Fort at 3.333m. From here you can ski down to the cabane. Summertime, arrival is across the Glacier du Tortin from the Col des Gentianes station.
There is no infrastructure like electricity or water up here. Water can only be collected from a natural source higher up in the mountain during a couple of summer months, thereafter it needs to be stored (without freezing) for the winter. Electricity comes from a combination of solar panels and batteries with a back-up generator. Heating from a pellet heater and a central fireplace.
Building at such an altitude is a challenge, at this location a massive challenge. Even the glass panels had to travel slowly up here to acclimatize to the altitude. Snow loads of 1.2 tons per square meter, wind loads at hurricane 3 level. When you calculate the structural strength you have to combine the two factors. The cantilever of 3-4 meters does not make it easier to construct.
The building is set on the same footprint as the original cabane that stood here earlier. The terrain is sloping by more than a full floor, even on this relatively flat position, so that the basement is fully exposed on the west side of the building and fully buried into the mountain on the opposite side. In keeping with this footprint, but also to invite a sense of floating in the air, the main floor of the building was cantilevered on the west and north side – with the mountain sides falling away steeply on all sides underneath.
The main glass façade is slanting inwards to invite the skies above into the room and emphasize the feeling of floating midair between earth and sky.
The building is designed as two contrasting volumes on top of the concrete basement. The living room area that opens up to the panoramic views and part of the building with the entrance area, bedrooms etc which is shaped as a triangle to function as a base for the solar panels on two sides and to provide the dramatic views and interaction with the steep mountain peaks to the east.
At this doubly cantilevered corner is a private part of the living room where you can roll out the bed from the master bedroom positioned just behind, to enjoy the soaring views and starry skies above through the night.
Here you are truly off-grid. Here you are truly alone. Scaringly exposed, but safe inside.
