Students designed a ski resort in the Alps and won the competition!

Dobrawa Bies

26 of May '22

ARCA project won the international Snow Dwell Inn competition

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A team of architecture students from Wroclaw University of Technology, consisting of: Anatol Poplawski, Przemyslaw Ruta, Jan Warchol and Paulina Wojnarowicz won the international Snow Dwell Inn competition organized by the UNI platform. The challenge was to design a low-carbon ski resort that could be built in the Alps, near the summit of the Matterhorn. Meet the ARCA project.

As the contest description reads, due to global warming, as much as seventy percent of the snow found in the Alps will be irretrievably lost by the end of the 21st century. The effects of climate change are hitting tourism and ski resorts hard, but interestingly enough, as much as over twenty percent of greenhouse gas emissions come precisely from transportation and accommodation infrastructure in mountainous regions. So the organizers asked the contestants - how to design new solutions for the ski industry to mitigate the effects of climate change?

ARCA project could be built near the Matterhorn summit

victory of the polish team

The works submitted from around the world were judged by a jury consisting of Takashige Yamashita (Takashige Yamashita Office), Ana Julia Carvajal and Alejandra De La Cerda (POLEN ARQUITECTURA DE PAISAJE), Louis Thompson (Nomadic Resorts). They awarded the Grand Prize to the ARCA project by a Polish team of architecture students from the Wroclaw University of Technology, and two honorable mentions.

ARCA received the Grand Prize in the UNI competition

Designing a building, in a natural landscape, without urban context, which will not compete with the surrounding views and which will fit well into the topography of the area, is not an easy task. We tried to respond to the above-mentioned problems with a simple form that refers to the traditional geometry of alpine construction, but finished in a more modern way. The elongated simplified block, is intended to become a complement to the natural landscape and an object where people can find shelter, the eponymous Ark, the authors say.

ark in the mountains

location and scheme of formation of the block

The shape of the designed plot was the starting point for the projection of the initial solid, which the architects then tried to subordinate to the existing terrain and functional conditions. One of the advantages of the selected plot is its location right next to a ski slope. Trying to take advantage of this, the authors proposed locating the main body of the building parallel to the slope and introducing a road in the form of a traverse, which crosses the building and leads to the courtyard. This courtyard creates a new, intimate space that integrates all functions of the building.

The two masses are connected by a bridge

The unique character of the building was achieved by the architects by connecting the two masses by means of a bridge and another indentation in the main mass. This procedure was encouraged by the line of the water reservoir adjacent to the plot. Breaking the monotonous solid introduced softness and lightness into the project.

The orientation of the elongated building perpendicular to the slope required it to be partially buried in the terrain, such a positioning of the solid allowed us to imagine the designed building as a ship attacking the incoming waves, the architects add.

The architects separated the hotel function from the service function

hotel and service part

The young architects also decided to separate the hotel function from the service function. The main body of the building houses the resort part, with the main lobby with reception, hotel rooms, restaurant and SPA & Wellness area. The second part of the facility is the previously mentioned service area. It includes a bar accessible from the slope, a locker room for skiers/snowboarders, an equipment rental shop with service, as well as a snow patrol and paramedics. The complex's functional program means that there is something for everyone - from admiring the views, to relaxing in the pools, to riding the alpine slopes.

When viewing the building from a greater distance the boards "merge" with each other and form a whole

two observation points

Planks perpendicularly attached to the facade add a second layer to our building. Through such a procedure, two interesting observation points of the designed resort appear to us. The first point, when the observer is standing next to the building - from a short distance the boards "open up" and allow us to observe what is happening inside, additionally, through appropriate cut-outs we emphasize public spaces such as the restaurant or the main hall. The situation is similar when a person views the landscape from inside the building. On the other hand, the second point of observation is from the perspective of a skier coming down the slope - at the moment when we view the building from a greater distance, the boards "merge" with each other and form a whole, which increases the privacy of guests, the competition winners say.

The designers set as their goal the creation of a self-sufficient building

ecological and self-sufficient building

One of the competition guidelines was to design an ecological building with as low a carbon footprint as possible. In response to this task, the Polish team used wood as the primary building material. The building's structure was constructed using the CLT timber system technology - large-format massive cross-laminated timber panels used as load-bearing and partition walls, as well as ceilings. The building's façade was also finished with wood, with planks fired using the Shou Sugi Ban method. This method ensures quick completion and increased fire protection.

The primary building material is wood

The architects also set themselves the goal of creating a self-sufficient building. To this end, they used various solutions: a water filtration system - a treatment plant with a laboratory located in the basement of the service building. The flow of water through the building is circulating. Gray wastewater unsuitable for filtration is transported to a biogas plant. In addition, we take into account the replenishment of water reservoirs, rainfall or naturally occurring sources, the designers add. Another solution is the aforementioned biogas plant. Biodegradable waste in an appropriate process is converted into biogas, from which heat and electricity are produced. Complementing the production of electricity, there are photovoltaic panels mounted on the facade.

Also read about the Björkliden hotel project in Sweden by Kamil Federyga of the Cracow University of Technology.