The New Monte-Rosa-Hütte stands in a landscape of ice and rock near Zermatt. Above it tower the highest summits in the Swiss Alps, the Dufourspitze (4634 m) and the Matterhorn (4478 m). Here of all places the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) and the ETH in Zurich decided in 2003 to erect a building that would produce 90?% of its own energy and offer its visitors the luxury of running water all the year round. The project was initiated on the occasion of the ETH’s 150th anniversary of its foundation, and the building was designed by architecture students working with experts from various colleges and research institutions.
Important design aspects were energy and water supplies and the construction of the building and not least the transport logistics: the nearest mountain railway station is three hours away on foot. This meant that heavy loads could be delivered only by helicopter, so a lightweight structure was the only solution. The shell of the hut weighs only about 200 tons, a prefabricated timber element structure standing on a star-shaped steel assembly platform and supported by point foundations in concrete.
The new Monte-Rosa-Hütte can accommodate up to 120 visitors in rooms sleeping four to eight people. The hut is staffed from March to September; after that, only a winter room that can offer shelter to 12 self-catering visitors remains open. However, the Monte-Rosa-Hütte is hardly an ideal model for future mountain huts in the high Alps: it cost 6.5 million Swiss francs to build, most of this provided by sponsors.
Important design aspects were energy and water supplies and the construction of the building and not least the transport logistics: the nearest mountain railway station is three hours away on foot. This meant that heavy loads could be delivered only by helicopter, so a lightweight structure was the only solution. The shell of the hut weighs only about 200 tons, a prefabricated timber element structure standing on a star-shaped steel assembly platform and supported by point foundations in concrete.
The new Monte-Rosa-Hütte can accommodate up to 120 visitors in rooms sleeping four to eight people. The hut is staffed from March to September; after that, only a winter room that can offer shelter to 12 self-catering visitors remains open. However, the Monte-Rosa-Hütte is hardly an ideal model for future mountain huts in the high Alps: it cost 6.5 million Swiss francs to build, most of this provided by sponsors.