10 Apr 2018
Bjarke Ingels Group reveal zigzagging hotel with ski roof for Audemars Piguet visitor attraction
BY Kim Megson
Bjarke Ingels Group are designing a hotel next to their forthcoming Audemars Piguet watchmaking museum in the village of Le Brassus, Switzerland.
As with that subtly spiralling attraction – which is due to open in 2019 – the new project, Hotel des Horlogers, will be integrated into the topography of the landscape.
Five zigzagging room slabs will expand into a gently sloping exterior path, leading directly to the museum and local ski trails. Inside, a continuous sloping corridor will connect the guest rooms.
Leisure amenities will include two restaurants, a bar, a spa and a conference centre – with each tucked under the inclined slabs and oriented towards the light “to become individual destinations accessible along the exterior path.”
In a design statement, BIG said the 6,400sq m (68,800sdq ft) project represents “an evolution of the hotel typology.”
“The hotel seamlessly rises from the surrounding landscape and gently unfolds onto the site,” they added. “Interweaving with the building the topography, the community and public sphere become instantly engaged. The terrain fluidly becomes the roof, inviting guests to descend in skis towards the slopes of Vallée de Joux.”
The building, which was designed in collaboration with Cche Architecture, is already under construction.
When complete, the hotel and museum will form a new campus for Audemars Piguet in Le Brassus, where the famous luxury watch company was founded in 1875. The latter, which broke ground in 2014, will house themed exhibitions and watchmaking workshops. Its form has been designed by BIG as “a striking sculpture conceived in a single gesture.”
BIG have a number of leisure projects, of various scales, in the pipeline across Europe – from a panda enclosure at Copenhagen Zoo to the sprawling EuropaCity masterplan on the outskirts of Paris.
Their Amager Resource Center waste-to-energy plant is due to open later this year, and will also feature a sloping roof designed for skiers.
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