US practice Morphosis has designed new guest suites — the ‘wood’ rooms and the ‘stone’ rooms, for the “House of Architects” at 7132 Hotel in Vals, Switzerland, by re-examining the definition of ‘luxury’. The design team has turned to the reduction and refinement of elements, focusing on scale, color, tactility, unexpected form, and connections to the natural context. Every aspect of the room, including lighting, bed, furniture, and the shower/wash basin, was custom-designed for the space, to elevate the routine aspects of a guests’ stay into an aesthetic experience.
Located within the deep rise of the Valser valley, two and a half hours from Zurich, the experience of traveling to the hotel is unique; you are embraced by an incredible mass of alpine rock, earth, and greenery. American architect Thom Mayne drew on this immersive experience in the approach to the rooms, which are wrapped in locally-sourced natural materials – differing veins of the Valser stone, varying in color, cut, and texture, or striations of oak from nearby Graubünden forests. At the heart of the room is the double-curved, hot-bent glass shower piece designed by Morphosis and fabricated by Cricursa in Barcelona – an abstract sculptural object that stands in glowing contrast to the room’s natural surfaces.
Morphosis was also asked to revamp the resort’s lobby and entrance area to provide a better sense of welcoming to the retreat. At the top of a entry ramp and staircase, an overhead aperture shines light onto arriving visitors and frames a view to the mountain sky.
The hotel also includes work by Japanese architects Tadao Ando, Kengo Kuma, and Peter Zumthor.
all images courtesy of Global Image Creation