Titlis Tower

At more than 3,000 metres, the summit is one of the best-known mountain destinations in the country, with a full panorama over glaciers to the south and the plateau to the north. The first cable car reached a point just below the peak in 1967, and today around 1.1 million people visit each year. The cable car company later acquired a former army antenna tower from the 1980s, connected to the mountain station and an ice cave by an underground tunnel.

In 2017 the design team was commissioned to renew the mountain station within a masterplan for the whole summit, and to turn the antenna tower into part of the visitor experience. The 56 metre tower is anchored deep in the limestone by a concrete base and built as an almost filigree steel frame.

The existing steel structure is extended with two horizontal volumes and four vertical circulation towers. The concrete base has been enlarged into an entrance and orientation level with visitor access, technical rooms and a garage for piste machines. The original tunnel gives a direct, sheltered route from the station, and in contrast to its raw rock walls a reflective steel band guides visitors through it.