The mountain plays the role of the silent actor on the stage; the hotel acts as a theatre from which the guests are a pondering audience
– Stefan Rier, noa* partner

Italian design studio Network of Architecture (noa*) have been inspired by the world of the theatre for their latest hotel project: a glass and timber structure looking out towards the Dolomites.

The family-run Valentinerhof hotel is situated 1,200m above sea-level in the commune of Castelrotto, South Tyrol. The architects were commissioned by the owners to design two new guest buildings offering views from every point of the nearby Schlern mountain.

The main building – containing a reception, bar, lobby and seven rooms – was conceived as a ‘silent theatre’ where the guest is “transported to another world by the surrounding mountain landscape”.

“The main concept was to capture of the view of the Schlern,” said noa* partner Stefan Rier. “The mountain plays the role of the silent actor on the stage; the hotel acts as a theatre from which the guests are a pondering audience.”

Inside, playful furniture, decorations and light create a fairy tale atmosphere, with cosy furniture, large self-designed conical lamps, vivid curtains, room-high bookshelves and a gilded free-standing staircase evoke the pomp and grandeur of a theatre.

The building’s wooden facade is inspired by the region’s typical farmhouses of the area, with irregular recesses in the horizontal wooden panels allowing sufficient daylight to penetrate into the rooms behind.

Glass fronts of the lobby and the rooms underline the dialogue between indoor and outdoor, connecting the spaces more closely with the surrounding nature.

Valentinerhof’s second new timber-clad building, located to the southwest of the plot, features nine suites each with an almost square floor plan and room-high glazing. Colorful colour accents deliberately stage certain room moods and atmospheres, while rounded corners and edges and natural materials such as wood and stone create another connection to the surrounding landscape.

Other new amenities include a garden, which covers several levels and connects the old and new buildings via several access routes.

noa* have worked extensively in and around northern Italy on a number of hospitality projects that celebrate the region’s spectacular scenery. Their designs include an apple-inspired spa and wellness centre, a hotel with a dramatically cantilevering swimming pool and a resort inspired by the peaks of a mountain range.

Hotel shaped like Dolomites mountain peak opens for explorers in Italy's Badia Valley

Network of Architecture return with dramatic cantilevered infinity pool

Apple-themed sauna and wellness centre opens in Italy's Passiria Valley