New development set to revitalise the front de neige

Val d’Isere is built around the old farming village that stood in the 1920s. Since then, thanks to the high altitude and snow sure skiing, the village has grown into one of the most popular ski destinations in the world. With that increasing popularity, Val d’Isere has gone from a farming village to a skier’s town, to a luxury ski resort comparable to Courchevel and Meribel in the Trois Vallees.

As an upmarket destination, Val d’Isere has been seeing significant redevelopment over the last few years. The new 200 million euro investment revitalising the front de neige promises to change the face of Val d’Isere. It will involve a completely new commercial street and around 100 luxury new build apartments. It’ll have the sort of impact that no other French Alpine development has had this century.

Revitalising the front de neige

The first mutterings of the project came in January, before the development had been given permission from regional authorities, but as of the beginning of this month it has finally been given the go ahead. Work will begin in September, with the demolition of public buildings. From there, the new front de neige will take five years to complete.

Spanning 100m along the road towards La Daille, right in the middle of Val d’Isere, the development will boast nearly 1000 new beds to the resort. Alongside a 50 guest bed hotel, there are several brand new residences that will provide buyers interested in Val d’Isere a large number of high specification apartments right in the centre of the resort.

In addition to the new build apartments, there will also be a nursery, a reception house, a pedestrianised commercial area, and a new piste linking the ski lifts to the centre of town. Not only will buyers looking for new build apartments in a snow sure ski resort see this as an opportunity, but the development promises to streamline the front de neige and offer much needed services.

Designed to match the Savoyarde style of the town

As with any effort to wholesale replace the bulk of a street, the danger with this project has been the risk of it sticking out against the backdrop of the nearby old town. To try and avoid that, the architects have gone out of their way to create a development that encompasses a number of different styles and heights.

The idea is to make sure the new front de neige looks like it could have been built over a number of years, blending in well with the rest of the town, while the mixture of new build apartment residences and commercial buildings serve to make it more accessible than ever.

Building from local materials, the development aims to maintain an authentic feel despite using more modern building techniques. Small businesses like the old seasonaire favourite Le Petit Danois pub, which are being displaced, will be reinstated into the new buildings, giving them the chance to reinvent themselves.

Local Reaction

Locals are hoping that the new project will be sensitive to the needs of families who live in the resort, but the outlook is broadly positive amongst those who live in the resort full time. The owner of the Petit Danois is confident that the new building, when it’s finished, will give them a swish new premises that embodies the same spirit as the old place.

The Arctic Café, opposite where the heart of the new development will be, is looking forward to the increased footfall and the direct access to the slopes. There is some doubt in the resort that work on the new front de neige will be able to stay on schedule, but we’re hopeful that the build will easily be able to meet the current five year estimate.