“Rote Wand“ Gourmet Hotel, Lech-Zug (AT)

Set back from the main tourist trail lies Zug, once a small hamlet with a church, schoolhouse and a few farmhouses. In contrast to most of the other high-alpine tourist destinations, this place has retained its village atmosphere with a population of less than 100, in which the old buildings have additionally set the benchmark for the new structures in the decades that the holiday resort developed from a farming village. The “Rote Wand” Gourmet Hotel started out as a guesthouse, which has developed into a resort with five houses today. Since 2007 our practice has been entrusted with regular modernization and expansion initiatives, which are part of a long-term development approach based on high-quality architecture and local crafts.

 

Hotel Complex “Rote Wand”

The three main buildings are connected by a common base, which houses the indoor swimming pool and the spa area. The Dependance (2009) and the Apartment House (1999) are also connected underground to the main building. A demolished pension makes space for the Dependance. We replaced the buildings from the 1970s, which were situated above the church and facing the valley, by buildings facing now the slope. Due to its dominance in the village, the building complex of the Hotel “Rote Wand” makes an essential contribution to the typical local site and formulates a concise alternative to the widespread “Alpine standard style”.

Client: Rote Wand Hotelbetriebs GmbH, Josef Walch
Location: A-6764 Lech, Zug 5
Architecture: Dietrich | Untertrifaller
Project management: Susanne Gaudl, Helmut Brunner
Construction: 2007-2018
Area: Hotel resort 5,000 m², Altes Schualhus 110 m², Employee house 760 m²
Capacity: Hotel 58 rooms and suites, Altes Schualhus 36 places, Employee house 29 apartments

Planning
statics concrete: Mader & Flatz, Bregenz / statics timber: Merz Kley Partner, Dornbirn / HAVCR: Klimaplan, Hohenems and Ammann, Bregenz / electronics: Brugger, Thüringen / building physics: Weithas, Lauterach

Execution
builder: i+R Bau GmbH, Lauterach / timber construction: oa.sys baut, Alberschwende / heating & sanitary: Bömag Installationen, Schruns

Photos
Hotel: © Rote Wand Gourmet Hotel_West, © James H Schriebl, © Adolf Bereuter, © Angela Lamprecht / Altes Schualhus: © Dietrich | Untertrifaller, © Rote Wand Gourmet Hotel_West, / Employee house: © oa.sys. (Marcel Mayer), © Dietrich | Untertrifaller

Site
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L1
Connected by the Red Corridor, the six houses form the in many respects surprising 4-star resort.

Straight, high-quality Design in the Wellness Area

 

In 2009, the existing indoor pool in the basement was expanded into a upgraded wellness and spa area. A new all-year outdoor pool with a surrounding sunbathing area as well as the newly designed and enlarged restaurant on the ground floor further enhanced the resort. In 2007, most of the hotel rooms had been redesigned according to our plans.

A central challenge for the underground areas was to create daylight openings. An incised courtyard, located between the outdoor pool and house A, brings daylight into the relaxation areas and serves as the outdoor zone of the adjacent sauna. In addition, the conversion enabled a large skylight, which covers as a glass roof the lounging area of the indoor pool.

Tasteful Design in Restaurant and Bar

Relaxed Luxury in the Rooms

Altes Schualhus

The nearly 250-year-old school building in Lech-Zug was empty for a long time before Joschi Walch, owner of the hotel “Rote Wand”, commissioned our practice to convert the building. After only four months of construction, the “Alte Schualhus” opened in July 2015 and now completes the hotel complex.

 

The gastronomic use – a snack bar on the ground floor and a gourmet restaurant with a show kitchen on the upper floor – required numerous conversions and fixtures. In order to connect the building to the underground road network and thus to the sanitary rooms of the main house, an entire basement was added subsequently.

 

The historical building was freed from subsequent additions; the original timber construction is now visible again. New constructions such as box windows, interior paneling and wood shingled roofs were made according to historical examples and are the result of traditional craftsmanship. The new, contemporary function equips the “Alte Schualhus” with the most important asset for the survival of historic houses: a vital everyday use for the next generation.

Tap room
Snack room "Jausenstüberl"
Chef's Table

Employee-House

As the Hotel “Rote Wand” provides luxurious spaces for its guests, it was important for the management to make their employees live very comfortably as well. The employee-house, completed in 2016, offers 29 fully furnished single apartments with private bathrooms, accessed via a space-saving pergola. Large floor to ceiling glazing ensures brightness and transparency and creates a generous atmosphere despite the compact layout of the building.

The two-story wooden building rests on a massive, lowered basement level. The elongated, shingle-clad building with its saddle roof responds to the architectural style of the hotel complex and the overall image of the village, rooting the employees’ residence within the context of the “Rote Wand” and of Lech-Zug.