Apartment Hotel in Algund

Set amid apple orchards and vineyards in Algund, Alto Adige, the architecture of the Pergola Residence adopts the motif of the surrounding timber “vine pergolas” almost literally, integrating itself harmoniously ­into the landscape. The clients commissioned the star architect Matteo Thun, also from the Alto Adige, to undertake the work. The outcome bears a greater resemblance to a private housing development than to a hotel. The ample suites – 60 m2 and larger – are pushed into the hillside in a terraced form. General facilities are reduced to essentials. The flowing sequence of spaces in the suites includes a traditional dining recess and a mini-kitchen as well as living and sleeping ­areas and an attached bathroom. The views out through the room-height glazing extend to a terrace and the landscape beyond. Natural materials with rough, unsealed surfaces were specified. Extensive use was made of larch; and the Galician stone, in conjunction with leather and stainless-steel fittings, lends the bathrooms a distinguished note. One senses a symbiosis here between architecture and design.