The original Gasthof Bad Dreikirchen dates back to 1325. Situated in a mountainous area of the suggestive Eisack Valley, it can only be reached on foot.
The renovation of the hotel, managed by the same family for over two centuries, began in 2002 with the construction of a new loggia, an underground garage and the refurbishment of a stone building. In the words of Lazzarini Pickering, the project “reinterprets the traditional iconography and colours of the area, for example the saturated and deep yellow of chanterelle mushrooms, to respond to current aesthetic and functional requirements”. One need only consider the wooden balustrade of the new balconies. Constructed according to local tradition, it is crossed by benches and tables that can be moved from inside to outside as desired by different guests. The theme of transformation is once again central: the simple repositioning of furniture modifies the façade, producing ever-different plays of light and shadow.
The design of the rooms was changed by inserting new in-room bathrooms, framed by wood cubes using material recovered from historic local constructions known as masi. The remaining walls and shelves in the bathrooms are in yellow laminate, while the washbasins are inspired by historic examples.
The common areas were restored between 2005 and 2006 as part of a contemporary re-visitation of the typical Stube (farmhouse kitchen). A system of upholstered steel benches, integrated with parchment light fixtures, runs along the perimeter of the room, connecting with the “O”-shapes framing the windows. These deep cornices, a recurring sign in the office’s work, transform openings in the walls into small environments for sitting, talking and enjoying the view. The old radiators set into the steel “O”’s reinforces the dialectic between past and present.
The intense yellow of the bathrooms returns in the living spaces, where the walls and ceilings are decorated with large stylised flowers, realised using the eighteenth century technique of watercolour frescoes.
As proof that the Gasthof is in continuous evolution, the office is currently involved in the renovation of a new nucleus of guest rooms.

The above abstract is from the book “Lazzarini Pickering Architects” edited by Emilia Giorgi and Domitilla Dardi, published by Quodlibet, 2014