How do you build a restaurant at the top of a mountain? Quickly, and from anodized aluminum and other lightweight materials, apparently, if the newly-opened Gipfelrestaurant (summit restaurant) 2650 meters (8700 ft) up atop the Arosa Weisshorn in the Swiss Alps is anything to go by.
The irregular hexagon restaurant, designed by Swiss architect Tilla Theus, affords its 220 seats 360° views of some 400 surrounding summits (though it's claimed 2000 can be seen from the top of the Weisshorn given ideal conditions). The restaurant's most distinct feature is undoubtedly its scaly anodized aluminum shell by facade specialists Scherrer. Tilal Theus claims its appearance allows it to fit in with the landscape, particularly the color of the rock.
Inside (which is surprisingly large) the architect has gone for warm, natural materials including pine ceilings and rubber floors.
A prefabricate timber structure allowed for rapid construction, and cunningly allowed building materials to be transported by the existing gondola cable car system that serves the Weisshorn.
The Gipfelrestaurant also provides overnight accommodation, which is handy for any paragliders who may be persuaded that a warm bed is a more sensible course of action than a pitch-dark descent after a skinful of absinthe.
Sources: Tilla Theus, Scherrer
In response to Doc Roc, A nice wooden cabin style shows a regressive crystallized attitude to architecture. Maybe the Swiss (of which I am a citizen) want to be seen as a modern progressive people who are willing to drop the façade of chocolate box and cuckoo clock imagery and embrace the 21st century. This building and enterprise shows daring and a practical solution to keeping the tourist industry alive and well in this region. From Arosa village a cable car can transport 600 people per hour to the restaurant.
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/weisshorn-free-cable-car-in-summer.html