The Yustedal glacier is very popular with tourists: the starting point of their hikes for the last hundred years was the Tungestølen shelter, but on Christmas 2011 it was destroyed by the cyclone Dagmar. A replacement was needed, and the local branch of the National Hiking Association, Luster Turlag (named after the neighboring town of Luster) teamed up with residents of the nearby village of Veitastrond to organize an international competition to design a new base for hikers.
The winner was the Snøhetta bureau, the first stage - three houses - were ready last fall, when they were inaugurated by Queen Sonya, and for all comers, the hostel started working this summer.
The capacity of the base today is up to 30 people. When all nine huts are completed (including a copy of the extremely popular
Füglemürhütt), Tungestølen will be able to accommodate 50 tourists. So far, the complex includes a main house with a living room and a dining room, a dormitory building and an individual hut.
The buildings received a polygonal "oblique" shape in order to "evade" the strongest winds blowing from the valley. Inside, the architects paid special attention to the placement of window openings, "framing" the mountain landscapes.
The structure is made of laminated veneer lumber (glulam), the walls are made of cross-laminated timber panels, but the most interesting thing here is the cladding. These are pine boards prepared by
the ancient malmfuru method, which was used in the construction of medieval Norwegian churches. It is thanks to him that the famous stave buildings have stood for many centuries, without requiring regular replacement of material, like wooden buildings in other countries.
