Linear ski lodge design reaches new heights

From Matteo Thun to Peter Zumthor, there’s something about aggressively modern, stark and squared-off contemporary architecture that works better in the Alps than anywhere else on Earth. We think it’s so appealingly unlikely – as if it may have just landed from space.

The new bioclimatic Aiguille Grive Chalets hotel scales new heights – quite literally – in this kind of design. No other hotel has been built at the altitude of 1800 meters before. We are duly impressed by the endeavour, and the look of the result.

The property consists of groups of four, five and six double bedroom chalets, connected via covered passageways to a main hub and dining areas. It’s like Space 1999, in the snow, on a mountain top, but with a better wardrobe (perhaps). Pierre-Marie Couturier designed the interiors for plush effect: all deep sofas, roaring fires and giant dining tables. And the skiing – lest we forget that it remains the point of any visit – is superlative.

Charlotte Perriand was, apparently, the key inspiration for the design of Aiguille Grive, and the angular, muscular style of the exteriors  (by COS architects – who have also been working on the refurb of The Ritz, Paris) certainly nods in the direction of Perriand’s slick, linear modernism. C

Aiguille Grive Chalets Hotel, Charmettoger, Arc 1800, Les Arcs 73700 Bourg Saint Mau, France
+04 79402040; hotelaiguillegrive.com