Tana delle Marmotte, an underground marmot den for children on Skyway Monte Bianco

Halfway up Mont Blanc, at the Pavillon intermediate station of the Skyway Monte Bianco cableway, the Italian practice Officina 82 has dug children a burrow. Tana delle Marmotte, or Marmot Den, is a permanent underground learning space for children and teenagers. It mixes play with lessons about the Alpine marmot by letting visitors crawl, more or less, into a version of its winter home.

The shell is three prefabricated Corten steel tubes: an eight-metre central run and two cross pipes for access. They were made off-site, sized to be carried up by helicopter and bolted together on a bed of fine gravel, with no concrete foundations, so the whole thing could be taken away again. Inside, ribs of 40mm spruce plywood and tongue-and-groove boarding follow the curve of the steel. They make one flowing, cave-like room whose timber also serves as benches, display shelves and a carved staircase. The stairs climb to a clear acrylic porthole that looks out over the mountainside and doubles as a skylight, while LED strips overhead lead you along the route.

The article came to designboom as a reader submission from the architects, so read it as their account. It's a fine excuse to stop at Pavillon on the way up with curious children in tow.

Our summary of a story from designboom, published 21 October 2026. Read the original