Realtors’ favorite old adage has a reason to be. Location, location, location works for more than just houses. For design, creating a vivid sense of place has become one of the most important items on any designer’s to-do list.
That’s especially true when that location is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Italy’s Dolomites mountains. For the Adler Mountain Lodge, a 30-key boutique hotel made up of 18 suites and 12 chalets, taking the glamorous locale into account was paramount. Local architects Hugo & Hanspeter Demetz worked alongside Rudi Perathoner from Selva to create a design that centers on using local wood for the interior, the exterior of the central lodge and the arc of surrounding chalets. Hand-planed planks make up the structures, with local spruce being used in the south-facing chalets. Hand-carved eagles and dragons in the roof timbers add a finishing touch.
Using material choice to help drive home the locale might seem like an “it’s been done” take on the trend, but projects like this show variations on the theme are endless. In this case, narrowing the focus to just one material and then incorporating that throughout the hotel creates a cohesive vibe.
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