Lauenen bei Gstaad, Switzerland
Located in a charming historic village in Lauenen, a small Swiss town in the Bernese Alps, this private residence is the perfect winter getaway. Part of a set of three chalets in this location, the residence sits in the sunny face of the valley, offering a view of the town’s late Gothic village church and cemetery, as well as a glacier and surrounding waterfalls.
The architects had to carefully plan around the environment once they began the building process. “Planning guidance dictated the size of the building, the building height and the pitch of the roofs,” says Studio Seilern Architects. The materials used in the building process were kept in “their rawest, most natural form.” The texture varies throughout the space with floors treated with oversized whitened birch planks. “The boldness of exposed concrete contrasts against the richness of local roughened wood paneling on both walls and ceilings,” says Studio Seilern Architects.
Textural changes and raw materials are used throughout the interiors of the chalet. Warm-toned wood boards contrast with concrete walls and wide plank ceilings. In one bedroom, a set of built-in bunk beds adorned with bright red checkered bedding have a clear view out the window into the snowy landscape. Sleek, wooden furniture, like the long wooden dining table and accompanying benches, keeps the focus on the outside views and maintains a relaxing atmosphere inside. In the center of the space, a set of large wooden steps is surrounded by a clear, glass railing that seamlessly blends each room into the next.
The intentionality of the home doesn’t stop at the interiors. The architects were conscious of how raw materials would interact with the chalet’s exterior shape. "This resulted in a purposefully sober and bold approach to the facade composition, using the typology in its most basic form whilst remaining conscious of the potential for its contemporary interpretation,” Studio Seilern Architects mentions. The intricate design paired with the careful selection of materials helps the building supplement the environment rather than distract and take away from the surroundings.
