first eco PODhotel in flims, switzerland
the vicinity to a real snow paradise all photos by markus zimmermann
the first podhotel with 3 podhouses located in a small valley in flims (laax falera), switzerland aims to be a universal model for more sustainable tourism. the low impact accommodations are located in an untouched and pristine alpine environment.
since 2003, the swiss company ‘robust outdoor brands‘ has been building the ultimate mountain escape for nature lovers! the PODs offer all the benefits of an insulated structure in winter and summer. this is camping in the 21st century, the insulated wooden hut provides basic and affordable accommodation much in the way of a tent in some truly stunning locations.
PODhotel and fireplace
pods are available in two sizes and accommodate two people. see more images here.
PODhotel by night
PODhotel by night
family POD
this winter about 400cm of snow has fallen, and during the holiday season the hotel been sold out.
PODhotel by night 
the PODhotel is ideal or skiers
interior
toda hut temple image by hech (flickr)
the project’s reference is the hut by the toda people, a small pastoral community who live on the isolated nilgiri plateau of southern india.
drawings by robust outdoor brands
designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions’ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.
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really nice.. but where is the bathroom?????
Her eyes were like two pee holes in the snow…
Is it never daylight in Switzerland?
Bathroom and Restaurant are in a House nearby.
How did you make the curved wood?
The Bathroom can be done easily in an equal outdoor-manner with the DUTCHTUB … check http://www.doubledutch.ch for further details about that. It’s wood-fuelled and very cool for spots like this.
I don\’t see what is either ecologically sound or \’ultimate\’ about this design. It\’s nice looking but ,000 USD for an insulated box under 100 square feet with nothing but two beds seems a bit steep. A simple well insulated A-frame in such beautiful surroundings would work as well and use more off the shelf materials, saving costs and utilizing what we already have rather than custom cutting everything creating more waste. And going in and out for the bathroom and food wastes energy by constantly going in and out. It looks nice for the skiers, maybe curves just feel more \’eco\’.
I watched much of the good will and enthusiasm in \’eco\’ design fall by the wayside in the 60\’s and 70\’s with designs that really did nothing to help the environment and often were deficient in many ways. Talk to people that built geodesic domes, for example. They look cool and somehow modern but often leaked because they had so many seams and were loud inside without a lot of sound absorbing materials. Even the original author of the Domebooks finally went back to simple, well insulated conventional structures using materials easily obtained.
I fear this will happen all over again.