Austrian architect Jakob Sprenger and designer Antonia Crespi have transformed the restaurant of a boutique hotel in Gstaad, Switzerland, with bespoke furniture and fittings.
Crespi and Sprenger wanted to create “a contemporary design rooted in Gstaad’s Alpine heritage” for the Monti restaurant at The Alpina Gstaad.
“Our aim was to consider every detail of the design to evoke the unique spirit of Gstaad,” Sprenger told Dezeen.
The duo created all of the furniture and fittings bespoke for the fine dining restaurant.
Among them are banquette seats upholstered with mohair and chairs perched on hand-carved “skis” in a playful reference to the alpine outdoors.
Walls and ceilings are clad in reclaimed antique pine wood, which was brushed and oiled by hand.
Metal artisans bent sheets of bronze by hand and wove them together to create a series of room dividers, held in place by thin bronze frames.
The designers paired the “strong texture” of the woodwork and bronze screens with soft carpet flooring in complementary “gentle and warm” hues.
The bespoke wool carpet was made in Denmark and features motifs of local flora and fauna interwoven in contrasting thread.
Illustrations of foxes, deer, squirrels, grouses and alpine flowers, twigs of pine, nuts and alpine herbs cover the carpet in an abstract style inspired by the traditional Swiss art of paper cutting, known as decoupage or Scherenschnitt.
Overhead lighting is provided via chandeliers consisting of three concentric bronze rings holding 48 bell-shaped Murano glass shades.
The handblown forms are reminiscent of the snowdrop flower – “a typical and treasured wild flower found in the Alps”, Sprenger explained. “The frosted finish feels like a gentle layer of dew covering the bells,” he added.
A four-meter-long sculptural buffet table, custom-built from layered fibreglass and bronze, provides a contrasting centrepiece to the restaurant.
The shape and design of the table are intended to reflect natural elements from the surrounding countryside, from the fluidity of the rivers to the rugged contours of mountains.
Other projects by Sprenger featured on Dezeen include the interiors of skincare brand Aesop’s latest store in Paris.
The photography is by Giulio Ghirardi
