reitter_architekten + Architekt Erich Strolz

Description

Kals on the Grossglockner, Austria’s highest peak, consists of several densely built historical hamlets interspersed with rolling meadows and woodlands. Typical for the architecture are houses made partly or entirely of wood displaying high-quality carpentry. This complex – made up of 41 chalets and a four-star superior hotel – sees itself as a new hamlet in the forest. The architecture deliberately avoids all banal alpine clichés. The traditional construction methods in this region evolved based on the setting, the terrain and the technical construction methods that were possible and fitting for their time. The project’s architects have done exactly the same. The fundamental attitude behind the design of the project was a gentle intervention in the site with its unique topography and the existing vegetation. Each and every tree was literally fought for. The slope »flows« beneath the chalets. The hotel, offering 117 rooms in solid wood construction and 12 suites in a tower, nestles in the grounds, with a break and a change of floor levels in the lobby area.