St. Moritz is inter­na­tio­nally known for its Alti­tude Trai­ning and Compe­ti­tion Centre (HTWZ) for athle­tics and for its good trai­ning condi­tions. This, ther­e­fore, brings many elite athletes, triath­letes, runners and racing cyclists to the loca­tion each year. In order to take a further step towards impro­ving the infra­struc­ture, a compe­ti­tion was orga­nized by the muni­ci­pa­lity in 2017, which was won by Walter Bieler and Georg Krähen­bühl. They convinced the compe­ti­tion jury of the St. Moritz Alti­tude Trai­ning and Compe­ti­tion Centre (HTWZ) – which consists of a pavi­lion and a warehouse – with their outstan­ding design.

Another buil­ding was erected to store the indi­vi­dual parts of the tempo­rary pavi­lion and to store the sports equip­ment for the athle­tics acti­vi­ties. The new warehouse is in the imme­diate vici­nity of St. Karl Borro­mäus church. The church is an important cultural and histo­rical legacy for St Moritz Bad. “Cons­truc­tion is also a cultural mission,” says Walter Bieler. The inter­ac­tion with this buil­ding was an important concern for the two men from Grisons during project deve­lo­p­ment.

In addi­tion to the func­tion­a­lity of the HTWZ, its archi­tec­tural quality is central. The hori­zontal and vertical stag­ge­ring of the volume makes the buil­ding more complex and, at the same time, makes the various uses inside clear. The appearance of the purely func­tional buil­ding is refined by clad­ding with wood shin­gles made of Enga­dine larch. Further­more, thanks to the home­grown clad­ding, it blends authen­ti­cally into the surroun­dings.