Hotel Hof Weissbad 2018
Weissbad | Switzerland

Task: Tourism
Tender: Competition 2^nd prize
Architecture: bernardo bader architekten
Competition partner: mkp
Team: M. Kastl (PL), M. Ulmann
Floor space: 400  m²

Structure and natural beauty

The Appenzell region is characterized by rolling hills which suddenly transition into the rugged limestone mountains of the Alpstein massif.  Forest and cultivated meadows follow each other alternately, the latter of which are interspersed with individual farmsteads. The location is shaped by the grand hotel building and the park-like landscape bordering the main building.

The new seminar wing is sited parallel to the main hotel building and is directly linked to it. The one-story building complements the existing structure in a regionally typical manner reminiscent of a hamlet. The building deliberately takes one from village life into a “world of natural beauty,” while it also connects – via its square in front of the building which can be used individually for a variety of functions – to “activities around the hotel and the village”.

The back of the building faces a park-like landscape containing the “Schwendebach” stream and a dense woodland. The building is divided into four clusters that are arranged around a central space and a courtyard.   The rooms are well proportioned and open on one side to the landscape. The rooms lend the building its structure and weave it together with its surroundings. Light enters between the rooms into the central lobby and thoroughfares connect with the outdoor area. The two large seminar rooms dynamically follow a few steps below the topography, helping to create higher ceilings. Light enters the lobby inside the building from the courtyard which at the same time helps to divide it into communal areas with different uses. As a result, the changing seasons can be experienced even deep inside the building, creating a unique atmosphere inside the lobby. The courtyard also functions as an outdoor room, thus expanding the spatial functions of the seminar wing in an atmospheric manner.