High-altitude architecture from the Alps. Gipfelgebäude Chäserrugg by Herzog & de Meuron – Photo by Chäserrugg.
Architecture. Forget mighty skyscrapers; buildings can truly touch the sky when they rise above the clouds at 1,600-3,800 metres above sea level. We’ve selected ten Alpine breathtaking projects by Snøetta, Marcel Breuer, Herzog & de Meuron, Zaha Hadid Architects, and more.
Refuge du Goûter
By Hervé Dessimoz, Aiguille du Goûter, France – 3,800m.
Refuge du Goûter – Photo by ©Groupe H-Hervé Dessimoz.
The Goûter Hut Refuge, designed by Swiss architect Hervé Dessimoz, is an egg-shaped spacecraft gently nestled on the snowy ridge of Aiguille du Goûter. At 3,800 metres above sea level, it offers breathtaking views of the Chamonix Valley. The four-story building, designed as a shield against harsh weather, welcomes mountaineers on the final stage of Europe’s highest peak ascent.
The refuge features a stainless steel exterior and uses locally sourced larch and spruce. Inside, timber frames carve out a network of cosy bunks that accommodate up to 120 intrepid mountaineers. “The refuge is self-sufficient for energy and water: as snow slides down the side of the egg, it is melted by solar panels and collected in a tank. These same solar panels generate heat and electricity.”
SkyWay Monte Bianco
By Carlo Cillara Rossi, Courmayeur, Italy – 3,466m.
Photo by Sky Way Monte Bianco.
Anchored on a rock on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc, SkyWay looks like a James Bond villain’s den on top of the world. Inspired by glass crystals, the futuristic structure, designed by Carlo Cillara Rossi, is a masterpiece of extreme engineering. In just 19 minutes, you can ascend to the Pavilion Pointe Helbronner at 3,466 metres, where a panoramic platform grants breathtaking views of the valley.
Kartell’s exhibition at SkyWay Monte Bianco during Courmayeur Design Week-End 2025 – Photo by Giacomo Buzio.
At the halfway point of 2,200 m, visitors can find a restaurant, a conference centre, and one of the highest botanical gardens in the area, which houses around 900 species of alpine plants. This station also provides access to a network of trails. The rotating cable car cabins offer guests a panoramic 360-degree view of the surrounding landscapes.
Ötzi Peak observation deck
By Studio NOA, Schnalstal Valley Glacier in South Tyrol, Italy- 3,251m.
Photo by Alex Filz.
Bolzano-based studio Studio NOA–Network of Architecture designed the Ötzi Peak floating observatory deck on the Schnalstal Valley Glacier in South Tyrol. Sitting atop a rocky ground, the structure features Corten steel wraps, creating a freeing, up-in-the-clouds experience.
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Ötzi Peak is named after Ötzi, the most famous glacier mummy in the world. It blends into the existing summit cross with a light footprint, only secured where necessary.
Bivouac Fanton cabin
By Demogo, Marmarole mountain, Dolomites, Italy – 2,600m.
Photo by Iwan Baan.
Architecture firm Demogo designed Bivouac Fanton, a cosy 30-square-metre structure that can accommodate up to 12 guests. The cabin is perched at 2,600 metres above sea level on the breathtaking Marmarole mountain range in Northern Italy’s Dolomites. Its slender shape resembles a telescope, featuring a small window on one end and a large, sloping glass window on the opposite side, which faces the vertiginous drop-off.
Photo by Iwan Baan.
Club Alpino Italiano commissioned Bivouac Fanton to provide free emergency shelter. Accessing it requires a challenging five-hour hike from the starting point of the Marmarole trails. The cabin’s exterior is fully covered with titanium zinc panels, while layers of glass fibre insulation safeguard guests against freezing temperatures outside.
Bivacco Bredy cabin
By BCW Collective, Valle d’Aosta, Italy – 2,528m.
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In northwest Italy’s region of Valle d’Aosta, BCW Collective built an aluminium-clad cantilevered cabin hanging over a rocky slab at 2,528 metres above sea level. Named Bivacco Bredy, the structure is anchored by a metal frame and insulated in wood. The building is a memorial to politician and alpinist Claudio Brédy, who lost his life in a climbing accident.
Courtesy of BCW Collective.
The telescope-shaped cabin features a large opening that frames Gran Paradiso, one of the 4,000-meter peaks Bredy ascended during his career. This orientation also serves as an environmental design strategy, maximising solar gain to warm the interior even during the colder months.
The Japanese and The Gütsch high-altitude restaurants
By Studio Seilern Architects, Andermatt ski resort, Switzerland – 2,340m.
Photo by Roland Halbe.
Studio Seilern Architects has built a Swiss and a Japanese restaurant at the Andermatt ski resort in Switzerland at 2,340 metres above sea level. The structure comprises three volumes inspired by vernacular Swiss Alpine villages. “Pitched-roof houses sit against one another to form a cluster of stone walls and roofs nestled in a mountainous landscape,” explains the studio founder, Christina Seilern.
Photo by Roland Halbe.
The two restaurants, The Japanese, with 44 seats, and The Gütsch, with 66 seats, are housed in a mono-pitched structure each. The kitchen occupies the third, similarly shaped section. Additionally, three terraces supported by what appear to be randomly placed columns can accommodate an extra 190 seats outdoors.
Messner Mountain Museum Corones
By Zaha Hadid Architects, South Tyrol, Italy – 2,275m.
Photo by ©Inexhibition.com.
The Messner Mountain Museum Corones is located on the summit plateau of Mount Kronplatz, 2,275 metres above sea level. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, it seems to spring from the mountains and features a series of concrete cantilevered canopies inspired by the surrounding landscape’s shards of rock and ice.
Photo by ©Werner Huthmacher.
“The idea is that visitors can descend within the mountain to explore its caverns and grottos before emerging through the mountain wall on the other side, out onto the terrace overhanging the valley far below with spectacular, panoramic views.” Established by renowned climber Reinhold Messner, the museum explores mountaineering traditions, history and discipline.
Gipfelgebäude Chäserrugg
By Herzog & de Meuron, Unterwasser, Switzerland – 2,260m.
Photo by Chäserrugg.
Herzog & de Meuron transformed a 1970s cable car station at the peak of Chäserrugg mountain by enclosing it in a wooden restaurant building 2,260 metres above sea level. Located in a ski resort within Switzerland’s Toggenburg region, the Chässerugg summit building blends seamlessly into the surrounding mountainscape. “We aimed to develop a language that fits into Toggenburg without falling into the trap of popular Alpine clichés.” The team used locally sourced spruce wood whenever possible, incorporating contemporary details. They also employed local craftsmen to construct the different elements of the structure.
Photo by Herzog & de Meuron.
The structure is sheltered by a gently sloping roof supported by branching wooden columns. The restaurant stretches along one side of the building and is glass-covered on three sides, providing stunning panoramic views of the Alpine landscape. It also includes built-in wooden seating areas and a balcony extending over the precipice.
Top of Alpbachtal viewing tower
By Snøhetta, Alpbach, Austria – 2,030m.
Photo by ©Christian Flatscher.
Commissioned by the Ski Juwel Alpbachtal Wildschönau ski area, Snøhetta‘s Top of Alpbachtal is a publicly accessible viewing tower at 2,030 meters above sea level. The timber building sits in a spectacular spot near Wiedersberger Horn Peak, next to the mountain station of the Hornbahn 2,000 cable car. Based on traditional construction methods, the structure narrows further upwards and is clad in shingles handcrafted by a local artisan. “We designed it to be as resource-conserving and sustainable as possible.”
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As visitors pass the lift control room, located in the concrete base of the timber building, they reach a lounge that is accessible to the public. Here, parlours inspired by traditional Tyrolean farmhouses provide an informal seating landscape with various seating areas and wooden platforms. At the very top, one can enjoy a unique 360-degree panoramic view of the alpine landscape in the fresh air.
Flaine ski resort
Marcel Breuer, Flaine, Haute Savoie, France – 1,600m.
Photo by Candice Genard.
Often dubbed the ‘ugliest ski resort,’ the Flaine complex, designed by Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer, is one of the most radical examples of mountain Brutalism. Inaugurated in 1969, the project comprises a series of pre-cast concrete buildings, which were chosen partly to complement the rocks of the surrounding mountains.
Photo by Candice Genard.
“The architecture of Flaine is an example of applying the principle of light and shade that I have adopted.” Explained Marcel Breuer. “The façades of the buildings are shaped like the points of a diamond. The sun’s rays strike the faces at different angles and are reflected to produce light of contrasting intensity.”
Photo by Candice Genard.
