Wildspitzbahn

Pitztal, Austria
© Marc Lins
© Marc Lins
© Marc Lins
Architects
Baumschlager Hutter Partners
Location
Pitztal, Austria
Year
2012

Austria’s highest cable car mountain terminal is located 3,429 metres above sea level. The obsolete Wildspitzbahn cable car facility has been completely overhauled and has re-opened with a new restaurant.

Here, the unique views of the Alps form the point of departure for all considerations in regard to the choice of our architecture and design vocabulary. The design we have chosen emerged from the given natural conditions and issues of technical feasibility.

Minimal contact areas with the ground, a glacier tongue, precipitous mountainsides, the extreme altitude as well as the corresponding exposure to sunlight, wind and rarefied air severely restricted the design options available. A steel and aluminium structure placed upon the existing foundations forms the basis for a design which meets visual require-ments on the one hand and withstands prevailing weather conditions on the other. Con-sequently, the structure blends into the world of forms which exist throughout the year in the unique “snow architecture” created by nature. The intention is for the building to keep a low profile wherever the site makes this possible. Given the sheer elemental force and power of the natural landscape, the aim is to avoid creating an impression of ostentatious presumptuousness.

Client
Pitztaler Gletscherbahn GmbH & Co KG, AT, St. Leonhard im Pitztal

Architect
Baumschlager Hutter ZT GmbH, AT, Dornbirn

Photos
Marc Lins

Related Projects

  • Shanghai Suhe MixC World
    KOKAISTUDIOS
  • Welcome to the Stage!
    Kjellander Sjöberg
  • Hovering Kan-Too – Great Bay Area Center Showroom
    Wutopia Lab
  • Stockwell-Rodríguez Residence
    Belmont Freeman Architects
  • Haunsbergstraße | 1. Preis
    Architektinnen Schremmer.Jell ZT GmbH

Magazine

Other Projects by Baumschlager Hutter Partners

Tersteegenhaus
Düsseldorf, Germany
Am Südpark
München, Germany
Wohnanlage Weißachergasse
Dornbirn, Austria
Pfarrgemeindehaus Rosenstraße
Dornbirn, Austria
Wohnanlage Zollgasse
Dornbirn, Austria