Immeuble Les Hauts Forts 2
Monument
Immeuble Les Hauts Forts 2, located in Morzine-Avoriaz (Département 74), is a modern edifice built in the 19th-20th centuries. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Modern (19th-20th century)
- Location
- Morzine-Avoriaz, Département 74, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 46.1884, 6.7765
- Mérimée Reference
- PA74000059
A Brutalist jewel in the snow, Les Hauts Forts 2 rises from the edge of the Avoriaz cliff like an organic sculpture merging with the mountain. An architectural manifesto from the Sixties, listed as a Historic Monument in 2025.
History
Perched on the Dromonts hill, on the vertiginous edge between the Avoriaz plateau and the Ardoisières valley, Les Hauts Forts 2 is much more than a residential building: it is a statement of architectural intent, a pioneering work that helped define the visual identity of one of Europe's most avant-garde ski resorts. Designed in 1967-1968 by Jacques Labro, it is one of the first buildings in Avoriaz and fully embodies the organic philosophy behind the birth of this extraordinary resort. What makes Les Hauts Forts 2 absolutely unique is that it belongs to the family of "fan-shaped pyramid tower blocks" - an architectural typology invented for this exceptional area, where each building is designed as a natural outgrowth of the relief. The dark wooden shingled facades, the cascading roofs reminiscent of the schist of the surrounding mountain pastures, and the fan-shaped silhouette make this building a key feature of Avoriaz's first district, the Dromonts, designed back in 1965. The resort experience is inseparable from its radical pedestrian dimension: no cars enter Avoriaz. Horse-drawn sleighs and snowboarders make up the usual ballet of snow-covered lanes, giving the resort an atmosphere like no other. Les Hauts Forts 2 is part of this collective story, offering its residents almost immediate access to the slopes of the Portes du Soleil ski area, one of the largest in the world. The recognition of this building as a heritage site, first awarded the "20th Century Architecture" label in 2003 and then listed as a Historic Monument by decree on 18 February 2025, bears witness to a collective awareness of the value of modernist mountain architecture. Far from being an old-fashioned relic, Les Hauts Forts 2 now fascinates architects, photographers and heritage enthusiasts who see it as the archetype of a utopia come true: living in the mountains without disfiguring them.
Architecture
Les Hauts Forts 2 belongs to the typological family of "fan-shaped pyramid tower blocks", a category invented by Jacques Labro in response to the topographical and programmatic constraints of Avoriaz. The building has a stepped silhouette, with each level set back from the previous one, forming a splayed pyramid with a broad base anchored to the ground and a summit rising towards the sky. This fan-shaped layout gives each flat a sunny terrace facing the slopes and surrounding peaks, eliminating any masking effect between levels. The façades are clad entirely in dark wood shingles - a local material, traditional in Savoyard vernacular architecture, reinterpreted here on a monumental, contemporary scale. This wooden skin gives the building a natural patina that evolves over the decades, enhancing its integration into the landscape. The steeply pitched roofs, treated in continuity with the facades, accentuate the impression of a building rising organically from the rock. The generous openings are framed in wood and arranged in a rhythmic pattern to enliven the surfaces while optimising solar gain. Inside, the flats feature open floor plans and double-height ceilings on some levels, in line with the typologies typical of top-of-the-range ski residences at the time. The building as a whole reflects the philosophy of radically modern mountain architecture: functional, sparing of superfluous gestures, but absolutely consistent in form with its natural surroundings.
Related Figures
Jacques Labro — architecte-urbaniste, concepteur de l'immeuble Les Hauts Forts 2 et maître d'œuvre du plan d'ensemble d'AvoriazJean Vuarnet — champion olympique de ski, initiateur du projet de station d'Avoriaz en 1960Gérard Brémond — promoteur immobilier, cofondateur du groupe Pierre & Vacances, partenaire du développement d'Avoriaz
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Immeuble Les Hauts Forts 2 located?
Immeuble Les Hauts Forts 2 is located in Morzine-Avoriaz, Département 74 department, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, France.
When was Immeuble Les Hauts Forts 2 built?
Immeuble Les Hauts Forts 2 dates back to a period built in the modern era (19th-20th century).
Is Immeuble Les Hauts Forts 2 open to visitors?
Immeuble Les Hauts Forts 2 is currently closed to visitors.