[6] The project was the brainchild of Chamonix's mayor, former minister and mountaineer Maurice Herzog, and architect Roger Taillibert,[7] with engineering support from Heinz Isler.

[1] It is aesthetically significant for introducing the use of domed skylights to Taillibert's work, which he would revisit on a larger scale with Montréal's Olympic Park[4][6] and Abu Dhabi's Armed Forces Officers Club and Hotel.

Newspaper Le Monde attributed Herzog's loss in the 1977 mayoral election to the local population's disdain for Taillibert's style, which he had championed.

[9] Taillibert's buildings form an intricate structure, which at its peak consisted of twenty-eight triangular concrete arches, many of them imbricated into others and sharing common bearing points.

Ultimately, a change of government majority lead to that aspect of the project being abandoned, although the north and south sections retain an identical architectural style.