DATUM
alpine · Mont Blanc massif, France

Refuge Arête

45.8326° N 6.8652° E · +3,835 m

The building+3,835 m
A compact angular refuge clad in perforated metal, perched on a knife-edge granite ridge above glaciers, with jagged peaks behind.
A compact angular refuge clad in perforated metal, perched on a knife-edge granite ridge above glaciers, with jagged peaks behind.
Site
Mont Blanc massif, France
Coordinates
45.8326° N 6.8652° E
Elevation
+3,835 m above sea level
Programme
Twenty-bed alpine refuge on a knife-edge ridge.
Year
2027 · in design
Seed
1165476482
Field notes± 0.00 m

The ridge is two metres wide at its crest. Everything arrives by helicopter in loads under 800 kilograms, so the refuge is a kit of 46 panels bolted to a steel saddle that grips the granite on both sides.

The site

Granite, ice and wind. The approach is a four-hour climb, and the refuge is the only flat surface for a thousand metres in any direction.

The skin

Perforated aluminium, tuned to the ridge: tight on the windward side, open on the lee where the views are.

Plates2 views
  1. A small bunk room with timber bunks and perforated aluminium walls, a wide window framing jagged granite peaks and a glacier.
    01Bunk room. Spruce modules, each lifted in under 800 kg, inside perforated aluminium walls.
  2. The base of a perforated aluminium refuge resting on a steel saddle that straddles a narrow granite ridge crest, glaciers below.
    02The saddle: galvanised steel gripping the granite crest on both sides.
Building skin120 cells

A screen grown from the ground.

Face
West face
Material
Perforated aluminium, 4 mm, mill finish
Cells
120
Opening
18% to 70% of each cell
Open overall
32%
Seed
1165476482

All four skins in the Material Library

Materials6 items

What it is made from.

  • Perforated aluminium, 4 mm

    West screen and all 46 wall and roof panels

    Rolled in the Aosta valley, punched in Chamonix

  • Steel saddle, S355

    Grips the granite crest on both sides, in 6 sections

    Fabricated in Lyon, hot-dip galvanised

  • Resin anchors, 24 mm

    32 anchors into granite, 1.2 m deep

    Stainless bar from a Swiss mill, resin from an alpine supplier

  • Spruce frame, laminated

    Bunk modules and internal partitions, each under 800 kg

    Savoie sawmill, assembled in a valley workshop

  • Mineral wool, 200 mm

    Wall and floor build-up between panels

    German plant, compressed to a third of its volume for lifting

  • Granite, local

    Boot-room floor and external steps

    Split from the ridge during anchor drilling
Section4 levels

Cut through the ground.

Section through Refuge Arête+5.60Lookout+2.90Bunks+0.00Boot room−2.40Ridge
Field journal7 entries

From survey to site.

  1. Ridge walked in a four-hour approach. Crest measured at 2.0 m wide, with a 6-degree fall to the west.

  2. Wind logger set at the crest. Peak gust so far is 118 km/h, from the west.

  3. Panel count settled at 46 after four schemes. The heaviest module weighs 790 kg against a 800 kg lift.

  4. Test anchors pulled to 62 kN in granite. All 6 held with no creep after 24 hours.

  5. Saddle prototype fitted to a 1:1 granite mock-up in a quarry near Annecy. Gap to the rock is under 5 mm.

  6. Planning consent granted for the 20-bed scheme. Lift window pencilled for late August 2027.

  7. Perforation pattern frozen at 120 cells, tight on the west edge and open on the lee.

Next site+212 m

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