The new Rifugio Passo Santner – or Santnerpass Hut – is a galvanised-steel beacon planted 2,734m up the Rosengarten massif, accessible by foot only after a three-hour hike along the Santner via Ferrata or the Val di Fassa.

Bolzano-based firm Senoner Tammerle Architekten designed the 16-room A-frame to replace a popular, shabbier hut built in the 1950s, itself built to replace the 19th-century original shelter. And though it seems as if the architects eschewed vernacular wood and Dolomite stone for steel, the triangular truss frame and internal surfaces were designed in spruce, larch and maple.

By its very nature, the hut had to be fully serviced, so it serves a full breakfast, lunches and snacks of dumplings and apple strudel, plus a four-course dinner menu for dinner for guests lucky enough to stay overnight and enjoy the rosy views at sunset.

Photos by Fabian Dalpiaz