02 Dec 2016
Network of Architecture return with dramatic cantilevered infinity pool
BY Kim Megson
Italian studio Network of Architecture (NOA*) have created a cantilevering swimming pool overlooking a forest valley in the Dolomites in Italy.
The dramatic pool, situated at an altitude of 1,350m (4,400ft), rests between the old and new wings of the Hotel Hubertus in Puster Valley, which NOA* have recently renovated.
Designed to resemble a floating rock come to rest, the 25m-long pool (82ft) is constructed from anthracite-coloured stone. Its edges are hidden from view, creating the illusion of a void between the pool and the landscape beyond. From the hotel, it looks as if the water is flowing into nothing. A glass front and glazed window on the bottom of the pool gives the swimmer a feeling of floating above the earth.
The pool is used to bring together the new and existing components of the hotel, which has been enlarged with 16 new suites, a new kitchen, a restaurant, an alternative entrance lobby, a wine cellar and a fitness and a relaxation room with panoramic terraces.
The architects have also created a unified, rhythmically alternating facade from native larch tree trunks, which cover the old and new parts of the building.
Inside the hotel, the new rooms have been fitted with glazed fronts and east-facing balconies to allow natural light to flood in. Debarked wooden room dividers create a link to the exterior and its facade. The balconies outside curve in one fluid gesture that evokes the mountainous setting and offers views of the dramatic pool outside.
Suspended swimming pools have caught the popular imagination in recent times – with projects such as SHoP’s skybridge pool widely covered in the media.
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