Architects:obermoser + partner architekten

Year:2021

Photographs:Christian Flatscher

Lead Architects:Johann Obermoser

Engineering:ZSZ-Schauer

Electrical Engineering:Falkner & Riml GmbH

Carpenter:Tischlerei Pechtl

Design Team:Johann Obermoser, Christoph Neuner, Sandra Seeber, Andreas Norz, Harald Brutscher (Renderings)

Client:Ötztaler Gletscherbahnen GmbH & Co KG

Renderings:Harald Brutscher

Installations:Alpsolar Klimadesign

City:Sölden

Country:Austria

Text description provided by the architects. In the Ötztal Valley, among the Tyrolean alps, mountain tourism has seen in the last few decades a steady-increase. Willing to sustain and further promote an all-year-round sustainable model, the Bergbahnen Sölden asked obermoser + partner architekten to extend the Gaislachkogl cable car middle station with two new restaurants.

Design idea. Willing to provide a direct connection between the existing cable car station and the restaurants have been a design priority from the start. Afunctional distribution on two levels is meant to regulate visitor flows and generate spacious, panoramic terraces. The proposal relates with a formal continuity to the existing cable-car station, built by our office in 2010, while the extension uses a different materialization to underline the new intervention.

The existing basement structure in reinforced concrete has been extended and renovated, for the extension we proposed a massive-wood structure in prefab elements. This conscious choice enabled us to shorten construction times, employ regional materials, and produce a statement of environmental care.

Interiors. Wood has been a useful design element for the interiors as well. The restaurant on the upper floor hosts up to 100 guests and displays a show kitchen and a broad roof terrace with spectacular south/east views over the Stubai and Ötztal Alps. The ground floor displays a self-service restaurant with a generous dining area for about 300 guests, flooded with light by panoramic, full-glazed fronts emphasizing spectacular alpine views.

The dining area is designed as an open space, with self-service islands of different thematic areas and various colors, providing for free-flow consumption. Inner spaces have been designed to flexibly adapt to different purposes: diverse room-size-partitions, ribbed wooden ceilings, and natural wooden tones define the ambiance while sliding walls enable quick spatial rearrangements.

In the bistro area, a prominent wooden binder parallel to the window front acts as a visual room partitioner, the transition being emphasized by a materialization in dark tones. On the outside, a spacious panoramic terrace overlooks the ski slopes.

Three different lighting concepts have been designed for the different case scenarios; Lattice beams with studio lights for the show-kitchen islands, custom-designed hanging lamps for the bistro area, and subtle, and invisible light sources for the dining area.

Project gallery

Project location

Address:6450 Sölden, Austria