Financial Times Europe - 02.11.2019 - 03.11.2019

2 November/3 November 2019 ★ FTWeekend 9

House Home

the well-reviewed Hotel Terminal Neige
Totem, designed by Breuer and named
afternearbypublicartbyPicasso.
Exposed concrete nteriors andi
semi-industrial aesthetics feature heav-
ily in the hotel’s promotional material.
“An intentional choice,” says scion
Marie Sibuet. Her company is selling
Le Totem, as the block is known, this
year, in part on the strength ofits resto-
ration,shesays.
Charlotte Perriand’s Les Arcs was
another innovative1960s ski resort.
Perriand, who worked closely with
Le Corbusier, staggered levels of four-
storey terraces in her 1968 La Cascade,
designed with Guy Rey-Millet, minimis-
ingtheirimpactontheSavoielandscape
afterheavysnowfall.
Windows angled down catch sun-
light glinting off the snow. The blocks
at Les Arcs, though modern in form,
are clad in timber, tying them closely
to traditional Savoyard architecture.
The major retrospective ofPerriand’s
work currentlyat the Fondation Louis
Vuitton n Paris dedicates a roomi
to the resort, whose business viability

Hotel le Flaine

(1969) by

Marcel Breuer

Alamy

Mi Chalet by Karl Heinz Castlunger —Leo Trippi

Serenity Estate

by Eric Petit

is threatened by climate change. Perri-

and’s best-known buildings are below

2,000min an area that has suffered

frompoorsnowfallinrecentyears.

Today, a new generation of striking

chalets are takingadvantage of high-

tech advances in insulation that were

unavailable to Breuer and Perriand.

Spansoffloor-to-ceilingtriple-insulated

glass re standard in modern chalets.a

Low-emissivity coatingsminimise the

amount ofinfrared rays — which carry

heat—passingthroughthem.

“Because glass has become so high-

tech, we are now able to use large spans

of it sustainably,” says Chad Oppen-

heim,principalatOppenheimArchitec-

ture ho designed the La Muna restora-w

tionofa haletinAspen,Colorado.c

Yet architects must also ensure

that chalets are habitable year-round —

including in the summer, when higher

outside temperatures and direct

sunlight can mean that homes built

for sub-zero temperatures are prone to

overheat. Panes of triple-insulated glass

provide spectacular mountain views,

but act as greenhouses in the warmer

months, generating and trapping heat

fromsunlight.

Eric Petit, designer of Serenity Estate

in Whistler, Canada, says he tackled this

problem by taking advantage of the fact

that the angle of the sun is lower during

the winter. “The architecture provides

shading over the glass in the summer,

while still allowing sunlight to penetrate

deep into the house in the winter

months,”hesays.

Building at high altitudes comes

with specific engineeringproblems,

says Petit. Structural engineers must

account for the additional weight

of snowfall accumulating on the roof.

“Supporting this load while still produc-

ing an elegant structure is one of our

biggestchallenges.”

Architects are also careful to ensure

that their new work fitsits context,

they say. Oppenheim seeks to design

homes that “blend into the mountains,

and use the local materials of the

placeitself”.

Heusedweatheredtimberandrough-

hewn stone for La Muna.Castlunger,

who designed the Mi Chalet in

Italy,clad his giant arch in larch wood

in part out of respect for local materials

and traditions. Building in wood

allowed him a cost-effective means

of “creating a modern form while

keeping the home isolated for cold

climates”,hesays.

Villa Vals was buried underground

so as to avoid the new-build spoiling

existing views. For owner and designer

Mastenbroek, who rents out his home

when he is not staying in it, that con-

straint proved to be an advantage.

“Some guests only stay with us because

ofthearchitecture.”

Troll Hus above) by Mork-Ulnes(

Architects (2016) stands raised on

concrete pilotis thatlift it above the

snow. Clad in Norwegian-style

timber covered in black tar, the

California home’s name references

Scandinavian folklore.

Nook Residence y Mork-Ulnesb

Architects (2015) is clad in white-

painted pine, allowing the home to

blend in with thelandscape. It

conceals two storeys within a low

silhouette by building along the

steep incline in the Quebec hills.

Mountain House above) by Studio(

Razavi (2017) similarly combines

concrete and timber, by reinventing

the architecture of traditional

pitched-roof cabins. Generous

windows on the upper levels frame

views of the Alps.

V Lodge below) by Reiulf Ramstad(

Architects (2013) in Norway

combinestraditionalScandinavian

form with modern use of materials

— plate-glass windows and

plywood interiors.

Ido Vock

Fourunusual ski houses

Bruce Damonte

Olivier Martin Gambier

Ski Special

NOVEMBER 2 2019 Section:Weekend Time: 10/201930/ - 17:45 User: elizabeth.robinson Page Name:RES9 , Part,Page,Edition:REE , 9, 1