Near the top of Mont Blanc, the highest peak in all of Europe, waiting to hold refuge for mountain climbers before they make the final push to the summit, sits this amazing hut. Designed by Swiss architects Groupe H in collaboration with French firm DécaLaage, the Refuge du Gouter, as it’s called, sits overhanging Aiguille du Goûter, and the entire valley of Alps below. It’s perched at an elevation of about 14,000 feet.
The strange ovoid shape of the building was positioned as such to be aerodynamic, withstanding the intense winds subjected to the peak. The hut houses 120 people comfortably, on four levels, and features such amenities as cloakrooms and foyers, in addition to the usual kitchens and store rooms. It's also got a dining room that offers views of the valley.
The building is designed to run completely self-sufficiently, generating electricity through solar panels, and creating thermal energy through melted snow, which produces clean water.
This could be an outlook straight from the snowfields of Hoth. See more at Groupe H and DécaLaage.
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[via Designboom]
