In Samoëns, a commune in the French Alps, Swiss architect Joachim Fritschy has completed ‘Frit01’, a renovation of a small chalet built in 1956. Large windows frame the surrounding landscape while also allowing abundant natural light to fill the entire space. The gabled roof utilizes skylights to provide light into the attic bedroom space.
The day parts of the chalets were introverted, minimizing the relationship with the external panorama that surrounds them. The main cottage had already undergone several interior modifications which meant that it had to be completely redesigned.
The renovation project is based on the desire to rethink a typology oriented on the panorama. The structures of the buildings were preserved to the maximum. The conservation of the architectural heritage was the central issue of the project.
The facades have been redesigned in order to resume an order according to the existing structure and the panorama. The main chalet organizes a kitchen and dining room – living room, dressing room, bathroom on the ground floor. Upstairs, the 3 new double rooms radiate around the staircase and the bathroom.
The basement has been upgraded to accommodate a dormitory and technical parts. The secondary cottage organizes a kitchenette – living room and bathroom on the ground floor. Upstairs the new bedroom occupies the entire floor. Research into the uniformity of spaces by materials was another central issue of the project. The use of materials such as the 3-ply spruce panel for the ceiling, partitions, and floor make it possible to homogenize and unify.
