Meeting the Unique Challenges of On-Mountain Design & Construction

On-mountain design and construction comes with a host of complexities that require an experienced hand to navigate. Our Resort & Hospitality team at OZ Architecture has been working with resort developers and hotel operators for decades in some of the most beautiful—though challenging—on-mountain environments. This experience has yielded a number of key takeaways and insights that we bring to each project.

Navigating added layers of approvals.
The U.S. Forest Service owns a huge portion of the land in mountain communities. Here in Colorado, for example, about 65% of our forests are under federal ownership. Approvals to build in these environments come with added layers of approvals. Successfully navigating this process requires a strong understanding of the requirements as well as the elements they look for in a design. OZ has a longstanding relationship with the U.S. Forrest Service that dates to when the firm contributed to its original design guidelines (that are still used today), as well as a strong connection to the forest service architectural character established in the 1990s that propelled the firm’s resort practice forward.

Contending with access and terrain challenges.
The things that make alpine environments appealing to visitors—snowy conditions, remote location, steep, interesting terrain, etc.—make very unique challenges for contractors when it comes to transporting building materials. On a typical high-altitude construction site, all crews and materials are brought in via old logging roads, gondolas, and even by helicopter. Along the way, crews have to contend with barriers such as large granite rocks that are the size of cars, which must be blasted and cleared, and little workable soil.

These conditions are not typical in any way and require significant knowledge and planning when it comes to both design and construction techniques. As architects, we often work closely with our engineers and get creative with the design, crafting small components that are easily assembled on site. For example, wall panels that can be lifted into place and trusses that are built on-site from a series of 10-foot members—instead of the typical single long beams—are difficult to transport and often requires air support.

Configuring utilities.
Connection to utilities is a major concern when building in remote locations. Where this process may have taken years to properly organize in the past, many areas where our developer clients are looking to put on-mountain amenities are best served by not having utilities running to them at all.

OZ recently did an off-the-grid food and beverage concept for a client in Montana made possible with innovative, sustainable approaches, including solar power, recycling water, incinerating trash, capturing nutrient waste for fertilizer, biofuels and leech fields—all options that are much more readily available and viable for on-mountain construction today than even five years ago. Additionally, creating these closed loop systems allows the resort to operate more efficiently, reducing the amount of equipment and resources going up the mountain, in turn reducing costs and overall environmental footprint. By investing in high-performance systems, we work with our clients to create a legacy that prioritizes long-term resilience and environmental stewardship.

Working within a shorter building season.
Along with challenges to accessing remote mountain locations, the climate at high elevations makes for a much shorter building season, which necessitates a highly efficient design and build process. The typical winter season has lift operations that run from mid-October to mid-April. That leaves the building team with just six months of the year to work with. And during those summer months when crews can be building, they are often contending with scattered lightning storms every afternoon, making it extremely difficult to put long hours in.

As a result, the way an on-mountain project is phased can make all the difference in ensuring maximum usability (and profitability) for the resort throughout the construction process— particularly if the process goes on for several summers.

While the challenges to on-mountain design and construction are substantial, as we’ve discovered time and again, the circumstances that force us outside of the norm often prompt us to think of things in new ways. We push ourselves to envision new solutions. And the result is a more disciplined, efficient process that results in more creative, sustainable, and resilient design for our mountain resort and hospitality clients.

Head over to our Resort + Hospitality section to see more of our recent mountain work.