“Amazing experience”: The new Botta restaurant at Glacier 3000 has been inaugurated

Glacier 3000 in Les Diablerets (VD) officially inaugurated its new Botta building on Thursday, completely renovated following a fire in September 2022. A ceremony took place in the presence of Vaud minister Isabelle Moret and architect Mario Botta.

Isabelle Moret said she hoped that this new restaurant would become “as emblematic in the minds of visitors” as the Eiffel Tower is in Paris. Questioned by Keystone-ATS, the State Councilor in charge of tourism praised a building that was “more beautiful, more modern, more practical and more durable” than it was before the fire. And to promise “a stunning experience” to all skiers and visitors who, from Switzerland or abroad, will venture up to Glacier 3000.

According to her, the site represents “a flagship location” of the canton’s 4-season tourism strategy, Glaciers 3000 offering multiple possibilities at different times of the year.

This new building was designed by Mario Botta, who had already contributed to the initial project in 2000 before withdrawing due to disagreements with the developers at the time. The famous Ticino architect said on Thursday his “strong emotion” at witnessing the “rebirth” of his restaurant. “The use of new technologies has made it even better,” he said.

600 solar panels

The most visible change, the south facade of the building was transformed into an Alpine micro solar power plant and covered with more than 600 photovoltaic panels in order to cover the energy needs of the establishment. The exterior appearance of the building is otherwise almost identical, for reasons of building authorizations.

The interior has been redesigned. New panoramic windows in the corners have notably been added. The work also resulted in a surface area gain of 35 m2 per floor.

The site is divided into three catering areas with a total capacity of 480 seats, spread over three floors. A 250 m2 panoramic terrace has also been created on the roof, offering a view of the Matterhorn and 24 peaks over 4000 m. The total cost of the reconstruction was 30 million francs.

Fire misters

In terms of energy, the 600 solar panels added to the facade and eaves make the building almost autonomous. The heat released by the ventilation of the kitchens and the operation of the cold rooms will be recovered to produce hot water.

The building’s insulation has also been reviewed to minimize heat loss, a particularly important point at 3000 m altitude. Fire safety has also been improved. A new fire extinguishing system using misters has been installed.

As a reminder, the fire broke out on the night of September 18 to 19, 2022. No one was in the building at the time. If the cable car had remained intact, the restaurant had been destroyed.

The investigation is still underway to determine the exact causes of the incident. However, any criminal act has already been ruled out, with investigators focusing instead on a technical problem.

sj, ats