From Alpine inn to boutique hotel
Hotel Icaro in the Dolomites by Modus Architects
© Leonhard Angerer
Beneath a new roof and behind a colonnade of 13 intricate wooden supports, Modus Architects join the additions to this hotel into a single structure.
© Valentina Casalini
A unique setting
The Sattler family’s hotel is located on the Seiser Alm, a mountain pasture in the Uneso World Heritage site of the Dolomites. At 1900 m above sea level, it is surrounded by hiking trails and ski slopes. In summer and winter alike, holidaymakers enjoy a spectacular view of the Sellastock, Langkofel, Rosszähne and Schlern.
Third generation
The Icaro is now a four-star S hotel, though it started out in the 1930s as a modest mountain lodge with 16 rooms and shared bathrooms. In the 1980s, that structure made way for a three-storey new building with large roof dormers and dark-coloured wood cladding. An angled wing on the west side was added in 2002. The latest renovation was determined by the desire for more and better living space for the employees. Another significant aim involved improvements to the hotel’s architecture.
© Hotel Icaro
A monolithic shell of larchwood
Sandy Attia and Matteo Scagnol, the founders of Modus Architects, have expanded the building to the east and reflected the existing west wing along the axis of the core edifice. They have torn out the roof in order to cover both the existing structure and the new building with a shed roof, following the example of a South Tyrolese mountain hotel from the 1950s. The 13 intricate, tree-like supports that bear the roof were inspired by a classic colossal order; they extend 7,5 m over the two upper storeys. On the remaining three sides, the walls are clad with larchwood formwork with sawtooth profiling. As a fifth facade, the roof is decked with a slatted frame of the same wood.
© Gustav Willeit
© Gustav Willeit
The perfect view
A clear sequence divides the communal areas on the ground floor: entrance, reception, shop, lounge, bar and dining room. The ceiling cladding, which features acoustic panels of light-grey felt and yellow profiled strips, reinterprets the traditional panelling of Alpine snugs. Like a bracket, it connects the ground floor along its entire length. On the wall in the lobby, contemporary artists display their works; this mini-exhibition is curated by conceptual artist Hubert Kostner, who is Angelika Sattler’s life partner.
© Valentina Casalini
Throughout the hotel, everything revolves around the perfect view over the alm and mountains, be it in the dining room, the fully glazed southwest corner or in the rooms, where the foot of each bed ends at the balustrade of the panoramic windows, ensuring complete concentration on the mountain view by day or night. Even around the pool, the guests overlook the Schlern, for the entire area has been rearranged and the pool itself brought forward from the dark rear portion of the room to the window.
Read more in Detail 3.2023 and in our databank Detail Inspiration.
Architecture: MoDusArchitects – Sandy Attia, Matteo Scagnol
Client: Angelika Sattler – Icaro Hotel
Location: Piz 18/1, Alpe di Siusi, Castelrotto (IT)
Structural engineering: Ulrich Kauer – KS Engineering
Interior design: MoDusArchitects
Building services engineering: Kurt Tröbinger – KTB Engineering
Gallery
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