This client is a British property developer and he briefed me to find land in Samoëns for the construction of a very large ski chalet for his family. We had already designed two chalets for him, also in Samoëns, but for this project he wanted a plot that was walkable from the village and with beautiful views. I assessed and shortlisted land options for client approval, he chose and I negotiated the purchase price on his behalf. During my sixteen years in the French Alps, 70% of my clients lived overseas and I worked hard to communicate well and to build confidence and trust which led to opportunities such as this one. The plot sits next to the botanical gardens in Samoëns, overlooks the ancient village, and has beautiful views of the ski slopes on the mountain opposite. The site is clearly visible from the village and thus the design had to be sympathetic to that. The plot has a 40% slope and is overgrown with scrub and has layers of solid stone which makes excavation complex – to create the foundations for the new chalet approximately 600 cubic tonnes must be removed! My client wanted the biggest private chalet ever built in the Samoëns valley, with six ensuite bedrooms, distinct living areas including lounges, library, wine cave, and open plan kitchen and dining, plus indoor swimming pool, gym, sauna, and a separate staff apartment. The design also had to have allowances for plant rooms for the swimming pool, utility room, linen storage, and space for a piano. It was a big brief, for a big chalet, on a challenging site but we created a great design that the client loved, and the planning department approved so I was delighted. I worked in conjunction with my architect business partner at that time and we designed and submitted planning for the chalet together. To break up the form of such a large property the design created different roof configurations to give the appearance from a distance that it was a group of attached chalets rather than one large one - the chalet is over 45m wide and 25m from front to back! Pedestrian access is from the bottom of the chalet into the lower entrance lobby, which is a short walk uphill from the village. The main entrance is at the top of the chalet, next to the parking and garage. We recommended an elevator to future proof the house for our client’s upcoming retirement years. From top to bottom floor is around 12m vertical and 61 steps. The vehicular access is from the top of this very steep site which meant that we had to raise and level the ground to create a driveway. The regulations stipulated a maximum of a 15% incline but we aimed to get it closer to 12% which took a lot of technical calculation. Large amounts of retaining walls were required to create level spaces for parking and terracing around the chalet. To lessen the impact of retaining walls, they were to be covered in a mixture of local stone and green walls (living vegetation). *