Our concept for this family chalet, located near the historic town of Andermatt, draws on traditional materials and structures that define the spirit of the place. As part of the largest tourist development in Switzerland—the Andermatt Swiss Alps village—our design inspires a silent yet soulful architecture that embraces its surroundings.

To avoid inserting a large project on the edge of the riverside, we broke the volumes up, scaled them down, and inserted garden courtyards to offer protected spaces. The chalet appears as multiple dwellings, like in traditional mountain Maiensäss.

We sought the purest mountain architecture. A timeless chalet that respects and evolves the vernacular—one that engages the senses, respects the ecosystem, and belongs to the alps. Each volume has distinctive proportions and materiality relating to its function and location—whether adjacent to a pine tree, a pond and wildflowers, an edible garden, a grove of trees, or a riverside marsh.

Diminishing the chalet’s ecological impact was crucial; we achieved this by incorporating technologies, both primitive and modern, to minimize consumption of power and resources, while the buildings are reconstituted from their surroundings. Fallen stone from the mountains and wood reclaimed from old barns are used inside and out to create architecture that is visibly and experientially unique to the Andermatt region.