An Artistic Homage
Above Visp, at the entrance to the Visp Valley, lies Zeneggen with its approx. 280 inhabitants. High above the village centre, at around 1,440 metres above sea level, is the hamlet of Alt-Zeneggen, with the chalet “The Quilucru”, located on a beautiful sun terrace far away from mass tourism.
The green of the larch forests
The client and the architects attached great importance to the choice of materials and colours, always keeping the surroundings in mind. On the upper floor, all changes to the walls and floor were made clearly visible with new cladding. Larch cladding was substituted with large-format, green oiled cladding. The green of the interior cladding now blends with the green of the surrounding larch forests. Additional windows now permit new insights and views.
Watercolour serves as the basis for the design
The unusually designed bathroom is a tribute to the client’s husband, Hans-Peter von Ah, a well-known artist in central Switzerland. His work covers a broad spectrum from small watercolours to sculptures and art on buildings. Inspired by his works, the architects used them as the basis for the bathroom design process. The sculptural effect of the room, with its projections and recesses, was emphasised by the bold choice of colour. The result is reminiscent of the artist’s graphic watercolour drawings.
The surfaces in the bathroom needed to be as seamless as possible, based on the concept of “surface, body, expansion” described by Hans-Peter von Ah in his book. As a result, the choice fell immediately on the Swiss product and utter original among seamless mineral floor coverings - Naturofloor. “We quickly found the three colours in Naturofloor’s beautiful palette; they blend in perfectly with the atmosphere of the rest of the house.”
“We found it interesting to take up this theme of the artist in terms of colour, intensifying it and then breaking it down again.”
“We found it interesting to take up this theme of the artist in terms of colour, intensifying it and then breaking it down again.”
Holidays at the Quilucru
Quilucru, by the way, is loosely translated from French - who would have thought it (qui l'eut cru).
The client’s aunt chose this name for the house as she had seen the word elsewhere and liked it. In the spirit of “Who would have thought it, take a look at this little gem!”
If you fancy seeing the extraordinary architecture for yourself and spending some relaxing days in Valais, you can book the chalet via Airbnb.
Architecture:
ATELIER BRANDAU CICCARDINI Architekten FH SIA GmbH /// www.brandauciccardini.ch
Photos:
PHILIPP MAECHLER PHOTOGRAPHY/// philography.ch