Alpine Hut Wiesner Alp

PrizeHonorable Mention in Architectural Design /
Firm LocationChur, Switzerland
Lead ArchitectBearth & Deplazes Architekten
Design TeamDaniel Ladner
Projecthttp://

Alpine Hut Wiesner Alp, Switzerland The skillfully conceived weekend house is located on the open plateau of the Wiesner Alp, one of the most important Alp communities in the Canton of Graubünden. The hut was planned in collaboration with the community and the Bündner Heimatschutz as part of a collective reconstruction following a devastating fire. Unfortunately, the corresponding master plan could not be realized. The building is a simply designed log house of fir wood with select openings and a pitched roof. The walls are not insulated; artisanal and modest, like the original Alpine construction on the Alp, construction wood is visible inside and out. Available as references are the existing old huts in Walser style here on the Alp. Inside, surprising is the generous feel to the spaces, or rather, the space, which is skillfully sub-divided into four zones by merely a support in the center and a frameless glass wall. The floor-to-ceiling glass wall separates the anteroom climatically from the overly high-ceilinged interior space up to just below the roof. Despite the closely calculated surface area, there is room for a table with a built-in wooden bench, a soapstone oven, and a kitchen unit. The sleeping area is elevated as a berth above the anteroom, and can be reached by a ladder. The ample entrance allows a magnificent panorama of the surrounding mountain landscape to open up through the anteroom, which simultaneously forms the private outside space.