Interior Design - Details
The entrance door in its function as a membrane between exterior and interior expresses a high degree of individuality. The wooden door with its doubled profiles features two glass elements: a narrow inlaid piece as well as a semi-circular one above in the center of the door. Horizontal, protruding slats give the observer the impression of sculptural elements.
Behind the entrance door, the foyer is enclosed to the interior by a pair of swinging doors with large glass panels and long vertical handles of rounded blocks of wood.
The adjacent area leads both to the reception—a small, wood-paneled office—and also opens to the main hotel lobby and the stairway.
The transition between the entrance area and the common area is fluid, loosely defined by the placement of three wood-paneled pillars. The resultant open plan allows for perspectives in all directions without hindering the various physical functions of the individual spaces.
The Grand Lobby features large, low, closely-set picture windows running the length of the room on three sides, even allowing seated guests a panoramic view of the landscape to the west.
The stairway--six steps to the landing before turning 90 degrees and continuing on--wraps around a seating area directly adjacent to the reception, offering an intriguing spatial solution. The openness of the sequence Entrance-Lobby-Stairway is emphasized by windows in the entrance doors and on the landing.
While the Grand Lobby is fully paneled, the L-shaped dining hall is done up in wainscotting to a height of 125 cm; the room features built-in furniture. The contrasting white of the upper half of the walls accentuates the details of the furnishings and decorative accessories.
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The sculpted doors are stained in the same shade as the wainscotting and designed to match the function of the spaces they connect. In order to allow the doors to be opened without intruding into either space, Mazagg envisioned two sliding pocket doors, which disappear into the walls. The faux ceiling beams—a significant feature of the room—reinforce the horizontal effect which joins the room to the hallway.
As important as the changes made to the first draft were for the character of the Berghof, they hardly altered the original conception for the interior layout. The traffic flow remained as planned and the various service areas seem, if anything, to have been made more functional. In the central part of the hotel, moving from entrance to foyer, to reception, to lobby, to dining hall and stairway, Mazagg achieved a spatial solution of outstanding clarity.
The construction elements employed, such as the paneling and the ceiling design, form a powerful structure, reflecting an architectural conception which, while defining the individual spaces, nevertheless leaves their boundaries open and gives free rein to the generous proportions of the rooms.
The large picture windows, together with the wood paneling and the furnishings, result in an atmosphere which “creates a remarkable tension, yet harmonizes with the landscape.“
With this masterpiece, Mazagg was able to interpret the cultural background of the hotel’s guests, making a statement about the high standards of alpine vacation living which remains valid even to this day.
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With the changes made to the first draft, Mazagg moved all the guest rooms on the upper floors to one side of the hallway, giving them a southwestern exposure. The overhanging balcony, accessible from each room, enhances the attraction of the place.
Mazagg was consistent not only with his work on the architectural details—walls, doors, lighting fixtures, handrails, etc.—but also designed all the furnishings: armchairs and footstools for the Grand Lobby, tables and chairs for the dining hall, wardrobes and armoires for the guestrooms.
