Design: The mountain shelter offers a restaurant and overnight accommodation and is open 98 days a year. The elliptical structure has been designed to cope with the technical and aesthetic challenges of an exposed site with wind speeds of up to 300 km/h.
Wood: The four-storey structure, made of local timber, consists of timber panels attached to a timber frame, which in turn is attached to 69 piles. The façade is made of alloy steel. The use of timber as a stable and lightweight building material has made it possible to cope with high wind and snow loads while reducing the cost of helicopter transport.
Energy: The shelter is fully self-sufficient and makes the best use of available resources. Solar panels provide heat energy for melting snow and heating water. Photovoltaic modules generate electricity. The combined heat and power plant, which runs on rapeseed oil, serves only as an emergency system for heating and electricity. Due to the highly efficient ventilation system, as a rule, only the heat radiation from the users is sufficient for heating. Wastewater treatment is similar to that of submarines, allowing the water to be reused in toilets and, ultimately, the treated water to run off into the surrounding area.
