EcoLuxury // Minimising Waste - Maximising Luxury

The WhitePod Hotel in Winter - Small but Strong Structure of the Geodesic Domes transforms the summer camp into a Winter Lodge for skiers. (Designboom, 2014).

While winter has officially arrived in full force in Australia, the height of summer sun is beginning to wash over the Swiss Alps. In considering where to travel to over the summer, it is perhaps possible to keep sustainability in mind.

One such potential destination for the increasing market of so-called ‘eco-tourism’, focusing on natural landscapes while minimising human damage and intervention is the WhitePod Hotel in Les Giettes, Switzerland. Describing itself as “low impact accommodation in an untouched and pristine alpine environment” (WhitePod), a series of self-contained geodesic domes sit over a series of timber plinths. Marketed as a form of luxurious and comfortable camping, these domes are equipped with bathrooms, fireplaces and full size beds, while retaining sustainable measures such as water control and filters over the small wood-fire stove/fireplace.

Pods on a landscape. Set over timber structures, the WhitePod Hotel offers breathtaking views of the Swiss Valleys. (Designboom, 2014).

Individual Pod, wrapped in a green fabric in summer to allow them to blend better in with the surrounding landscape. (Designboom 2014).

Interior of typical Individual Pod. The luxurious camping tent, not necessarily what one might enjoy if camping elsewhere. (Designboom 2014). — Interior of typical Individual Pod. The luxurious camping tent,
not necessarily what one might enjoy if camping elsewhere.
(Designboom 2014).

For some, this form of eco-tourist camping represents a lack of interaction with the landscape, there is no need to set up a camp, there are no open fires and essentially these pods are independent hotel rooms. At the same time however, it is important to recognise that these pods, in being self-contained with bathrooms and other facilities, means that human waste is collected and treated, firewood is burned without the danger of exposure and the land is not affected by tents. Indeed some have gone as far as commenting that WhitePod offers “a nice balance between camping and holiday retreat” (Designboom, 2014).

'Sustainable Cycles' - EcoLuxury's commitment to sustainability. (EcoLuxury).

Marketing Green. An arguably typical message on the website of WhitePod. (EcoLuxury).

While there is perhaps an arguable marketing ploy and the project is not necessarily 100% carbon neutral, it nonetheless represents a solution where ‘cutting back’ does not necessarily mean abandoning the comforts of the modern world. Through careful management and returning to a mantra of Glenn Murcutt, whereby we must ‘touch the earth lightly’, WhitePod serves as a model for eco-friendly tourism and a form of luxury which can also minimise its impact on nature.