The challenges of building a restaurant for the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort at the elevation of 9,100-feet include snow loads of 225 pounds per square-foot, severe earthquake design (Seismic Zone 4), unstable soils, and a site located near an avalanche path. The program for this facility includes a small deli with outdoor seating, a large cafeteria with a capacity of 250 seats, and a sit-down, elegant on-mountain restaurant that is open for dinner in the summer and winter. In addition there is space for the ski patrol, restrooms, and an apartment to accommodate the lift operators who run the Bridger Gondola.
This three-story building of approximately 20,000-square-feet is an important piece of the Mountain Resort’s Master Plan to provide more amenities on the mountain. The architectural character is a continuation of the language established at the Bridger Center, using a system of stone piers and timber beams as a simple, elegant response to structural requirements.