Installed via helicopter, the Stubai Glacier observation platform by LAAC Architekten offers a top view of the glacier and the surrounding mountains. The platform serves as both a destination and a resting place for nature lovers and adventure seekers. Unlike the glacier’s other main draw, skiing, the mountaineer’s roost is a summer attraction. During the winter, the structure is almost entirely obscured by snow. The platform weathers the elements with a rock and steel base and larch wood and steel finishings. Many of the other man-made structures in the region are made of similar materials, but, while the ski lifts, for instance, are coated with zinc to protect their silvery sheen, the platform is left to redden, a natural effect of pairing the weather-resistant steel with the iron-rich rock. A complement to the natural landscape and the ski region, the observation desk gives visitors a truly definitive experience of the mountain range.
