The first refuge of the Gruppo del Viso was requested by Quintino Sella in 1863 and was a simple hut in the Valley of Forcioline; only in 1881 he built another shelter, that of Fontana di Sacripante, near the hut.
The first refuge was built on the Alpe Alpetto was built in 1866 above Oncino, which took its name from the place “Refuge Alpetto” and that was repaired and expanded over time and then finally abandoned in 1900.
In 1886 the refuge Quintino Sella was built in masonry to Maita Boarelli, in memory of its founder, but three years later the same refuge was already insufficient for the growing number of climbers: it was thus extended. After troubled years concerning its maintenance, in 1932 it was destroyed by a fire. The new refuge Quintino Sella was built and opened at the Lago Grande del viso in 1905, expanded in 1927 and again in 1976.
In 1993 the expansion of 1927 was now dilapidated, and there surfaced a need to improve the hygienic conditions, here so the project to expand and functionalization of the existing shelter was born. The new project, approaching the central body of 1905, wants to encapsulate simplicity, accuracy, and organic order in continuity, without building a repeat of the 1976 extension on the opposite side. The central buiding is the oldest and tallest and continues to maintain its supremacy: the new volume does not cover the original facade, as the expansion of 1976 already did. On the main elevation east, a mirroring reflective stairway leads to a vertical line that enhances the volume of the original shelter.
