Mountain Hut
Bishop, California
2003 - Competition
The purpose of the project – developed with Marie Rezac – was to design a mountain hut in an extremely exposed position in the Rocky Mountains with an innovative environmental concept that included controlled introduction of fresh air, an alternative energy supply and passive technology to make it thermally self-sufficient.
Mountain huts involve a special type of use compared with other buildings, because the number of users fluctuates widely depending on the season, day of the week and weather. The concept of thermal zoning derives from the consideration that peak visitor times tend to coincide with peaks of solar energy. During the off-season and periods of bad weather few visitors come to the hut. The amount of space in active use in the building is designed to expand and contract depending on requirements.
