HISTORY/LOCATION
The Chesa Engiadina is located in the district of St. Moritz-Bad (bath), at the south-western end of Lake St. Moritz and roughly one kilometre south of the centre of St. Moritz-Dorf (village) and the railway station. It is located on the urban-looking Via dal Bagn, which is characterised in this section by street-side façades. A hundred years ago, a tram ran through it along the slope up to St. Moritz-Dorf (village). Even today, this is still the strolling and shopping area of the district. The excellently connected complex in a good pedestrian location replaces existing buildings on the valley side of the road and contributes to densification while respecting the dimensions of historic buildings in the neighbourhood.
CONCEPT/ARCHITECTURE
Chesa Engiadina comprises two parts of the building connected by a three-storey underground car park. The two wings are perpendicular to Via dal Bagn and extend across the plot to Via Grevas, about five metres lower, which leads to the lakefront and the railway station. The space in between is a large open-air public passageway that narrows slightly to the north-east from the Via dal Bagn and allows the beholder to gaze into the natural landscape beyond the lake. A wide staircase leads down to Via Grevas at the end of the passageway.
At the street level and along the passageway, there is a base section with several retail and commercial spaces with large windows. Their progression defines the outline of the plot and they are accompanied by elegant canopies with rounded corners, which are clad in bronze-coloured aluminium sheet metal. On the Via Grevas the base section is clad in natural stone, while the two main structures above protrude slightly beyond it. This is where the entrance and exit of the underground car park is located. In between, at the foot of the open staircase, a retailer has set up shop. The exterior design interacts with the differences in height by elegantly linking the different levels with curved staircases that follow the partly cobblestoned Via dal Bagn. The natural stone slabs of the exterior surface create a harmonious connection to the adjacent cobblestone paving.
The strictly orthogonal, cubically self-contained structures are divided by large, regular window openings, some of which are provided with floorto-ceiling, closely spaced vertical, bronze-coloured and trapezoidal aluminium profiles.
A cladding made of bright, sandstone-like precast concrete elements creates a simple yet striking appearance. These two volumes house 160 staff apartments for Badrutt’s Palace Hotel. The entrances to the apartments are located on Via Grevas, at the end of access lanes leading to glass-fronted foyers on the sides of the main building. Four comfortable apartments, two of them with roof terraces, complete the complex.
SUSTAINABILITY
Chesa Engiadina is connected to the district heating network of the St. Moritz-Bad (bath) energy network. It draws energy from Lake St. Moritz using a heat pump. The nearby ice rink for winter sports is also part of the network, with its cooling requirements integrated into the system.
