Chalet B, the first ski chalet designed by Powerhouse Company, sets a new benchmark for Alpine architecture. Located in the Swiss resort of St. Moritz, Chalet B achieves a complete transformation of a standardized 1970s chalet, even while maintaining its original footprint. The facade has been richly remodeled, with new window placements and crisp detailing realized in a warm palette of natural materials. Meanwhile the new volumes – an underground spa and staff quarters and futuristic garage – are invisible from the outside. The result is an exquisite yet understated building that channels local tradition in a contemporary way while harmonizing with the natural surroundings.
We have created a modest, well-integrated, beautifully designed chalet that blends with nature while remaining quite contemporary. The clients would like to live there permanently, which says it all.
- Sander Apperlo, Partner Powerhouse Company From rustic to refined Chalet B is set in the Suvretta mountains of the Swiss Alps. Strict regulations meant that the architects had to work solely within the footprint of the existing ski chalet and could not extend the building. While all the new spaces had to be dug out from underneath the old walls, above ground the existing volumes were given a fresh identity by moving and enlarging some of the windows, maximizing the spectacular mountain views, and by adding a new wood facade to replace the original plaster. The chalet echoes traditional Alpine buildings with its tripartite structure of stone plinth, wooden walls and slate roof. The facade design, however, is a new departure. Executed in local timber, it forms a composition of alternating horizontal and vertical lines that reflect the contours of the landscape. Horizontally cut wooden tree trunks and vertical sandblasted planks are combined with horizontal bronze profiles to form a design that is elevated by its quality of execution: The wooden planks, for example, were carefully selected to avoid knots, which would have detracted from the clean lines of the composition. Varying window sizes and treatments – some placed in invisible frames, others in recessed bronze boxes – add to the depth of the design. A rustic chalet becomes a refined piece of architecture. It was not possible to expand the volume of the building, so we transformed it by playing with the facade, windows and detailing. - Nanne de Ru, Partner Powerhouse Company A spectacular entrance
An unexpected and futuristic element of Chalet B is the disappearing entrance to the basement garage. Reminiscent of a James Bond movie, a section of the road approaching the chalet lifts to allow cars to enter and then closes invisibly behind them. The feature was custom designed and engineered in partnership with a German car elevator company. It maintains Powerhouse Company's track record in creating dramatic, beautifully designed garage spaces, for example in Villa B – which was built for the same clients as Chalet B.
It was an enormous technical challenge to hide all the elements of the garage entrance, while complying with strict safety measures and the extremes of the Alpine climate.
- Sander Apperlo, Founder Powerhouse Company Enduring partnerships In Chalet B, Powerhouse Company worked with interior design office Studio Liaigre, also a partner on Villa B, a monumental townhouse in Munich with similarly meticulous detailing. The chalet interior features richly textured, natural materials, including an old stone floor salvaged from an Italian church, walls made from rocks collected from the mountainside and wood polished to a silky smoothness. The large windows are heated for comfort, making the views even more compelling. The new basement includes a spa entirely lined in lava stone. We were able to build on our relationships with the client and Studio Liagre to achieve an extraordinarily high-quality level, even more efficiently than on Villa B. - Sander Apperlo, Partner Powerhouse Company With Chalet B, Powerhouse Company develops a unique client-architect relationship to not only rework an existing building but also put the ski chalet into a totally new frame of architectural reference. Uniting elements of nature, wellness, luxury and technology, it reaches new heights in its levels of detailing, engineering and execution.