38 PROJECT REPORT: HOTELS, RESTAURANTS & BARS
another challenge, and the slab had to be separated from the walls in order to avoid sound but also vibration transmission. Further partition walls included ‘sandwiches’ of insulation, as well as integrated services, to further assist this. Macullo says that in both the new and old buildings, the approach to interiors was one of “liberty,” so that a certain ‘boutique’ look is achieved, with each room having a different feel, “like ancient palaces.” He says that in this way, the old hotel’s rooms have a connection with those of the new block, “you flow from the new to the old – we have played with the finishes and colours so you have an experience that is continuously changing in a way, but there is a smooth transition from one space to another.” The challenge was to create spaces with different characters but “at the same time belonging to the same place.”
© Fabrice Fouillet
new buildings. An addition to the historic hotel done around a decade and connecting its two volumes was demolished, but designing its replacement caused some serious headaches. These ranged from “cutting the slab, and making the waterproofing and movement joints,” but there were also two pre-existing underground concrete levels to contend, one of which runs across the entire site. The whole project is “supported by piles that go through the old buildings to the technical rooms below,” says Macullo.
© Alex Teuscher PROJECT FACTFILE
Architect: Davide Macullo Architects (Project architect: Aileen Forbes-Munnelly) Client: Dogus Group Hotel operator: Chenot Interior design: Davide Macullo Architects Contractor: Anliker AG Interior contractor: Poliform Contract Structural, M&E and acoustic consultant: Basler & Hofmann
This extends to the otherwise lightweight new timber building. Working with the structural engineers, the designers included piles that go through the existing two basement storeys and terminate at the ceiling of the ground floor, supporting a “huge beam on which the new building is settled,” says Macullo. He adds that in order to minimise costs, these structures had to be designed to go through the existing basement levels “without touching them.” He adds: “It was like an archaeological intervention, very interesting, and very delicate, but also quite demanding.”
Interiors With the internal structural walls being made of ‘mass timber,’ acoustics were
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The refurbishment of the old hotel was straightforward, with no major works, but upgrading all electrics and plumbing. The restaurant’s verandah was closed off to provide an “arched space” however. In the new building, materials were kept simple; the circular ceilings are “handmade from gypsum board, and very well crafted,” says Macullo, their forms “connecting to the surroundings, the lake.” He designed the new carpets based on his own paintings, and the architects provided a collection of works from young Swiss artists to promote their work, alongside Macullo’s drawings.
Conclusion
The success of this challenging project was about community involvement and engagement as well as sensitive, elegant architecture that blends with historic antecedents, and a highly co-ordinated level of construction efficiency. As its architect says, it was about ensuring that “everybody feels comfortable,” adding that for a project on this scale, in a small village, “you don’t only build for the owner, you build for the future of a community. What you do influences its life in a very important way.” Above all however, according to Davide Macullo, the most important thing on luxury hotel projects such as this is to “take care, and find a synthesis of all the elements that makes people feel at ease, externally as well as inside.”
He says in his 30 years in practice, he’s “remained friends with all my clients, and contractors,” which is testament to his belief that his firm “really cares about the process,” as was fully demonstrated on this project.
ADF APRIL 2021
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