Lightweight roofs on Alp peaks
With a distinctive roof made from translucent ETFE-foil shaped like a wave, the project brings a nautical whiff of the coastline to the Alps of the Pusteria-Pustertal valley: a design brimming with movement and transparency.
The three buildings – valley, mid-slope and peak station – received a new outer shell, each with two independent segments that complement and extend the existing buildings and allow for entirely new ways to use the space available.
The basic idea of the design, which can be flexibly adapted to meet the needs of each stations, was to create a building envelope that integrates, expands or connects the existing structures underneath a structurally independent, transparent roof construction. That way, the buildings can freely accommodate both natural vibrations and those produced by the technology in use.
At each station, the machinery is covered with a transparent, dome-shaped roof construction designed to let in plenty of light and at the same time protect the structure from glare. Attached to the supporting structures of the new cable car system, it forms the new shell of each of the three stations together with the actual roof.
