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WEGGIS, SWITZERLAND BUILDING
PROJECTS CHENOT PALACE Swiss movement
A new addition to a prestigious lakeside wellness resort in the Swiss Alps produced a dynamic but discreet form, as part of a landscaped composition that gently enhances its setting. James Parker reports
itting on the shores of Lake Lucerne, in the Swiss Alps, is a grand hotel from the ‘Belle Epoque’ era of the turn of the 19th century – the Chenot Palace. In 2017, Turkish hotel developer Dogus Group decided to dramatically increase the footprint of the flagship ‘5-star plus’ hotel of the long-established wellness group founded by Henri Chenot. However Davide Macullo Architects faced the challenge of a sensitive, highly visible, and hilly site, as well as ensuring the historic buildings were respected, and hitting a tight deadline.
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Swiss architect Davide Macullo, based in Lugano, was familiar with Chenot and its values, having worked on several projects for them previously, including schemes for the Dogus Group. Further qualifying his practice for this timber-focused hotel project in the small, picturesque village of Weggis, were recent timber schemes completed nearby.
The practice is responsible for leading- edge projects from hotels, to healthcare and houses, globally and in Switzerland, including a striking multi-coloured and curvilinear house constructed of timber in the Calanca Valley. Further showing its fondness for the material, Davide Macullo completed a series of sculptural installations composed of wood planks in a forest close to the house. Macullo says that Chenot’s ethos is to provide a “second home” rather than a traditional hotel, and the grouping of buildings now created around the original hotel (also including the company’s administrative HQ) provides an elegant, understated addition to the lakeside. With neighbours’ houses cheek-by-jowl with the
ADF APRIL 2021
new hotel buildings, consultation with the community was a must. The architects put substantial effort into presenting plans and models and answering questions at various stages.
As well as refurbishing the 52 rooms of the existing hotel, the approximately 20,000 m2
project doubled the existing footprint with a substantial new timber guest block of 45 rooms and three storeys, plus a connecting podium level which is partly below ground, having been built into the hillside. This houses a luxury spa with special facilities including a cryochamber, and medical analysis and ‘anti-gravity’ equipment, plus a 21 metre swimming pool. In addition there’s a single storey, C-shaped office block for the client, as well as extensive landscaping and a car park. The project underwent the highest Swiss level of historic protection and scrutiny, abiding by the requirements of two bodies responsible for preserving local identity and that of the historic hotel, plus also the lake’s conservation body.
Form
The architects’ overriding precept for hospitality schemes was that in orders to create a feeling of wellbeing for guests, and answer the client’s requirement to create a feeling of ‘home,’ a strong connection must be created between past and future. In this way, the architecture provides a “link between the DNA of a place and its future.” Macullo says that what was “really important for us,” was the “charm given by the existing hotel,” and the design would have a gentle humility to ensure that the new additions didn’t overshadow them, literally or figuratively.
© Roberto Pellegrini
© Roberto Pellegrini
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