AW2 agency designs the Six Senses Crans-Montana Hotel in Switzerland
27.11.2023 - 09:42
/ traveldailynews.com
/ Theodore Koumelis
The Six Senses hotel is located high above the town of Crans-Montana, at the foot of the slopes, overlooking the majestic valley. The experience that AW2 wanted to develop was that of a journey from the bowels of the mountain to the treetops of the conifers, guided by the light.
Before Six Senses came onboard, the project was designed as a 90-room hotelby JP Emery Architects. Based on the existing permits, AW2, worked with Jean-Pierre Emery and his team to redesign all the architecture to reinforce our project narrative for Six Senses.
The architecture had to reflect AW2’s interior design, for which AW2 was solely responsible, and reinforce the interior’s connection to nature. The podium’s facade was conceived as a solid stone plinth, with expansive openings onto the vast private terraces of the suites and the views to the slopes. The two volumes above are designed as chalets with wrap-around balconies looking out onto the valley.
The constraints of the existing permit were finally overturned to create a new project. One that reduced the number of keys to 46 in the two volumes joined by the plinth (Building 1) and providing multiple public spaces such as the Alpine Garden, two swimming pools, a 2000 sqm spa, two restaurants, a lounge bar… Working with the context and using the previous project became the basis for the new project.
“Jean-Pierre Emery sadly passed away before he could see the building completed. We remember him warmly, and not to have him with us to see the building completed is something we will greatly miss.”
While redesigning the plans and incorporating Six Senses’s vision, we developed a narrative to guide our thought process. This began with the project’s location, directly on the ski slopes, which meant that the only access to the building would be through a tunnel into the building’s lowest level. This arrival point, right in the heart of the mountain, as it were, forms the starting point a ‘journey’ through the site, an upwards journey towards the light. This journey takes you from the depths of the mountain cave, up through the valleys, the forests and trees, to finally emerge above the treetops, taking in the views andthe bright rays of sunlight shining through the pine needles and onto the snow.
AW2 wanted the arrival at the Six Senses Crans-Montana to reflect their narrative in the strongest possible way. The first experience visitors have of the project is therefore the entry tunnel leading you into the drop off space. This vast space is lined in stone, with a rhythm of linear lights around. The ceiling is designed as timber structure with its lines recreating the stone facets found in a mountain cave. It is like a contemporary expression of the grotto. The light that