This chalet is perched high up at the very end of winding lane in Verchaix, with commanding views over the Giffre valley and beyond. The client had recently bought the cabin and was looking for a simple, but important extension to provide a great entrance space for his family's sporting equipment after a long day exploring the great pistes, trails and rock faces of the area. We love a compact design solution at AlpStudio, especially when it entails housing your precoius bike, skis or boots.

This was a small project with some big challenges – to get approval and to build in a difficult location, an extremely narrow and precipitious road up from the valley for access, steep terrain all around the existing chalet and some limiting water run-off restrictions. To resolve these challenges we liaised with the mairie, lcoal water authority and a geologist. Once this issues were resolved we designed a simple side extension, that needed to mimic the original cabin and use similar materials. The new entrance foyer and storage space reflect the previous kitchen extension on the other side of the cabin but maintain the old cabin as the principal facade. A simple brief, an excellent design solution, and a happy client.