PREFA Aluminium Products conquer the Stubai Glacier

The largest ski area in Austria, located in Tyrol, attracts thousands of enthusiastic skiers and winter sports enthusiasts every year. They appreciate not only the certainty of snow and over 110 km of ski slopes on the Stubai Glacier but also the fairytale Eisgrat cable car station, which offers culinary boosts to visitors during their day full of skiing. However, the postcard-like idyll has been showing cracks in recent years. The somewhat outdated mountain cable car station had become spatially insufficient and did not meet the requirements for modern dining facilities. Even the weather, especially the wind, left its marks on the building, prompting the owner, Wintersport Tirol AG & Co Stubaier Gletscherbahnen KG, to opt for a general reconstruction, including an additional extension.

Comprehensive Architectural Requirements
A construction site at an altitude of 2900 m is a challenge in itself, but the scope of the planned transformation and expansion required a high level of professionalism from all involved contractors during the execution and adherence to the timeline. The requirements for the team of architects from Innsbruck, led by DI Walter Niedrist, were extensive. In addition to the necessary general renovation of the 30-year-old building, there was a demand for the modernization of kitchen and dining areas, as well as the functional linking of the previously separate spaces for gastronomy and the sports shop. Improvements were also made to the comfort for cable car passengers, including the construction of escalators and elevators for people with disabilities, the renewal of garages for snow groomers, and the cladding of the building with a high-quality, fully maintenance-free facade. The total usable area of the reconstruction and extension reached 4420 m².

Resistant to All Weather Conditions
The climatic conditions on the Stubai Glacier are extreme. Snow, hail, rain mixed with snow, and intense UV radiation are typical here. Therefore, the architects' team placed great emphasis on selecting particularly durable and maintenance-free materials for the facade cladding. "From the very beginning of the planning process, we knew that only a solution with aluminum could bring us lasting satisfaction," explains Walter Niedrist. The company PREFA, as a specialist in aluminum roofing and facade systems, was involved in the planning process of the reconstruction. Together with the designer, several models were created. The choice ultimately fell on a ventilated facade made of riveted composite panels from PREFA.


Easy Installation in Difficult Conditions
The large-format, 4 m long aluminum panels combine two main advantages. They can be easily adjusted (bent and cut) directly on the construction site, and as a whole, they create a flat and visually sophisticated surface. In the case of the upper station of the cable car, the circular floor plan of the newly constructed three-story extension was further reinforced, and natural brushed aluminum was chosen for the facade surface treatment, which harmoniously fits into the surrounding glacier landscape. The installation of the PREFA facade was carried out by Stahl- und Metallbau Hörburger from the town of Roppen in Tyrol. Just five men clad 850 m² of composite aluminum panels in just two months (August and September). Despite the summer season, winter showed itself on the Stubai Glacier as well. Despite inconvenient snowstorms, it was possible to install the aluminum composite panels precisely according to the schedule.

PREFA Aluminum Composite Panels – Flexible Modern Shapes
The composite panels consist of two aluminum sheets with a thickness of 0.5 mm coated with baked paint and a 3 mm polyethylene core, making them suitable for various areas of use. They are suitable for both interior and exterior applications, new constructions, or renovations of old buildings – the possibilities are nearly limitless. These panels are particularly well-suited for large projects where high demands are placed on flatness and stiffness. Other natural properties of aluminum include corrosion resistance, resistance to breakage, storms, and all weather fluctuations, including UV radiation. Therefore, aluminum facades are ideal for use in particularly exposed objects, such as the upper station of the cable car on the Stubai Glacier.