#COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE PROJECTS
Alpine cable car station finds new life as a cantilevering restaurant in the Swiss mountains
Architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron transformed a cable-car station on Switzerland's Chäserrugg mountain into a wooden restaurant.
The building reflects the heritage of Alpine architecture and features locally-sourced spruce wood which envelops the 1970s-built cable car station.
The Chäserrugg restaurant is located in a ski resort within Switzerland‘s Toggenburg region, at an altitude of around 2,260 meters (7,414 feet). Until the cable car was first installed in 1972, the area of the Churfirsten mountain range, which counts seven peaks, including Chäserrugg, was largely inaccessible. The existing restaurant was part of the housing project originally meant to accommodate construction workers.
The new structure has a sloping roof supported by branching wooden columns, and large glass surfaces offering expansive views of the Alps. Built-in wooden furniture add to the rustic quality of the interior without creating a pastiche setting.
The Chäserrugg restaurant is among the smallest projects designed by Herzog & de Meuron, following large-scale projects such as Miami’s Pérez Art Museum and pavilions built for the Milan Expo.
