The history of Les Orres

Les Orres resort
A unique adventure

At the outset, it's a small mountain village in the Hautes Alpes, surrounded by its hamlets. Nestled in the foothills of the Pouzenc forest, the facades of its stone houses bathed in sunlight, the peaceful village of Les Orres overlooks Lac de Serre-Ponçon and the Durance valley. Les Orres has always been known for its traditional La Portette ski run.

its 360° panorama, north-west exposure - ideal for quality snow - and thrilling terrain opened up an opportunity for social and economic development. The Les Orres ski resort was born in 1970.

The adventure begins!

In the 1960s, Jean Michel Legrand, a Parisian architect with a passion for the mountains, conceived an overall project for the construction of Les Orres ski resort. His idea was audacious : a car-free ski resort integrated into the landscape.

Each building was constructed as the roads were built, giving rise to neighborhoods of varying shapes. Nevertheless, all the buildings respect the same architectural rules and materials, ensuring a harmonious whole. With their white rendered walls and larch cladding, the buildings evoke forests and snow-capped mountains.

The architect plays with the roof volumes of the buildings. He created an ingenious, slightly sloping wooden system, which he called a "snow carrier" and which surmounts the flat roof. This clever design avoids dangerous snow and ice falls, as the warm air from the apartment ventilators flows between the terrace and the snow carrier. The snow is then transformed into water and evacuated through the downspouts.

Jean-Michel Legrand's ambition was for these snow-covered roofs to blend into the landscape when viewed from the slopes.

In 2023, these architectural choices were applied to the construction of the Pôle Sport Innovation.