Mountain school · outdoor hubs

Two hubs, one terrace

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The concept

A small outdoor area that works in every season.

Two hubs, one terrace. A shared stone platform on the school's south slope holds a quiet glass pavilion and an open gaming deck, joined by a timber bridge. Both are sized for a class to gather and built to keep working through snow, wind and rain.

Each hub is medium-sized — big enough for a class to split into groups, small enough to heat, clean and repair with the school's own team. The two sit on one continuous stone plinth, so the terrace reads as a single place with two different moods.

72 m²

Total covered area

22

Seats across the terrace

4.4 m

Bridge between hubs

2

Hubs, one shared plinth

Weather strategy

Four seasons,
no closures.

At 1,600 m the weather turns quickly. Both hubs are designed around the three things that actually stop students from going outside: wind on the face, water on the seats, and snow blocking the door.

Snow

Steep roofs, no flat ledges and a heated deck edge. Both hubs stay open in winter, with the glass acting as a wind shield.

Rain

Deep eaves cover every seat. Both decks drain through the terrace instead of pooling, and the timber is untreated and weathers grey.

Wind

The pavilion is round so gusts slip past. The deck takes glass on its exposed faces and louvres on the corner, keeping one side always sheltered.

Clear

Wide opening between the hubs keeps the mountain view. Roof overhangs shade the glass in summer without blocking low winter sun.

Materials & environment

Built from the valley.

A short, honest material list: local larch and ash, recycled aluminium, laminated glass and two working roofs — planted sedum and solar. Nothing exotic, nothing that needs a specialist to replace.

Stillpoint

LarchUntreated local timber, FSC certified
Laminated glass3 bonded layers, snow-load and impact rated
Sedum roofNative alpine planting, 70 mm substrate
Solar roof1.6 kWp of thin-film PV, no drilling

Circuit

Thermo ashHeat treated decking, no chemical finish
Recycled aluminiumFrame and roof cassette, 80% recycled
Laminated glassImpact rated, on the three wind faces
PV membraneThin-film solar, 2.4 kWp on the roof fold

01

Timber over steel

Around 80% of both structures is timber from regional larch and ash forests — a fraction of the embodied carbon of an equivalent steel build.

02

Roofs that work

Stillpoint is planted with sedum and carpeted in thin-film solar; Circuit's roof fold is clad in PV too. Together they generate about 4 kWp — enough to cover the lighting, screens and deck-edge heating.

03

Light that is needed

Both hubs run on presence and daylight sensors. Nothing glows in daytime, and the evening lighting drops to a low, warm level after hours.

04

Built to be repaired

Bolted frames, standard pane sizes and untreated surfaces. Panels and glazing can be swapped by the school's own maintenance team.