Plateau Hut
Design
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Innovative engineering puts the hut at the cutting edge of international alpine hut design. At 18m long and 7.2m wide the footprint of Plateau Hut is larger than the available rock projecting from the glacier, so the southern end of the structure cantilevers out about six metres toward the Hochstetter Icefall and the Tasman Glacier.
To support the cantilever section of the hut, and to span the gap between suitable foundations, the walls are designed as "bridge trusses". Each wall has a substantial steel beam below the floor and a second steel section embedded in its top. The two beams are clamped around the 150mm thick timber walls with three-metrelong steel rods. The whole structure is tied to the rock foundations with 66 metre-long high-strength steel bolts grouted into the rock with epoxy.
Smart elements
Smart and innovative external and internal design elements include the colour of the hut, the ventilation system, and even the unique toilet. They are aimed at extending the hut's life and reducing maintenance costs.
For instance, the hut is constructed from treated timber and steel, and clad in profiled Coloursteel – coloured Pioneer Red to make the hut visible in poor weather and from the air.
A significant factor in the deterioration of huts is the accumulation of internal moisture from cooking fumes, damp gear, and users' breath. There is also the potential for carbon monoxide poisoning. Mr Chinn's design ensures effective ventilation to remove carbon monoxide and moisture-laden air. It incorporates a sealed paint system and a vapour lining inside the ply wall linings to provide further protection.
Plateau Hut is limited to solar power, so the ventilation system is passive. It has to function in nearly all conditions, and prevent snow from entering the hut. The design incorporates "stilling boxes" beneath the floor to allow air to flow into the building, while slowing it sufficiently to make it drop airborne snow. Ducts along the ceiling and cowled extraction ducts at the gables allow humid air and carbon monoxide to escape. The system also has silenced baffles and can be shut off.
Mr Chinn also designed the floor to slope imperceptibly toward drains made of steel. These drains allow vigorous cleaning of ice build-up, a safety consideration as it prevents icing of the floor and water building up inside the hut.
To manage condensation on windows, which untreated would cause water to enter the reveals and wall framing, Mr Chinn designed drip trays for retrofitting to the proprietary frames. Drain holes cannot be used in the frames themselves as water would be blown back into the hut in windy weather, and would freeze inside the frame extrusions in cold weather.
The thermal break double-glazed windows have toughened glass. They also have to act as fire-escapes in an emergency. If the windows were accidentally left open or unlatched they could be blown off their hinges, allowing snow to fill the hut. Therefore ventilation sashes have been incorporated in the design, and signs request users not to use the fire escape windows for ventilation.
Doors are a challenge for hut designers; normal domestic or industrial doors simply do not work in alpine environments. Plateau Hut has a single door with a triple set of rubber seals, and a door jamb fabricated from a 10mm steel plate.
The unique toilet design is likely to set a precedent for all future alpine toilet designs. It is a total containment system, specially founded on gravel away from the hut. The waste is periodically pumped out and flown from the site for disposal. A critical requirement was the need to avoid the discharge of human waste to the glacier or any part of the mountain as this would be culturally offensive. The area around Aoraki Mount Cook, including the hut site, is of significant cultural value to the local iwi, Ngai Tahu.
