Hotel Nira Montana

La Thuile, Italy

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Hotel Nira Montana

La Thuile, Italy

Firm

Studio Del Portico

Type

Hospitality + Sport › Hotel Restaurant Wellness/Spa

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2014

Photos

Andrea Martiradonna (14)

Concept Hotel Nira Montana - La Thuile, Aosta - Italy.
Undeniably, in our collective imagination, mountain lodgings traditionally evoke an
environment characterised by a pervasive presence of natural materials, in the rooms, the
furniture and the finishes. In designing this type of space it was deemed essential not to
disappoint such expectations by creating a system that would be able generate the desired
atmosphere by means of clean lines and interesting combinations of materials.
Wood is no longer the absolute protagonist, as paint, wall paper, iron and corten steel also
play a key role in a wealth of combinations where the diversity of the materials determines
the overall balance.
White plaster alternates with warm chocolate hues; wood is often replaced with wall paper
depicting trees; in the rooms, oak floors made of irregular blocks are contrasted with white
skirting boards; the reclaimed wood used to make the extruded parts of the furniture is
finished with iron profiles that engender clearly defined juxtapositions between seemingly
discordant entities. The aim, successfully achieved, was to extend the emotional character
typically associated with natural elements to neutral elements conceptually remote from
such perceptive references; the theoretical contrast between wood and iron is overcome
by the harmony of the combinations and the highly sophisticated balance of the whole. At
the same time, the essentiality of the architectural lines enables each individual element of
the composition to be clearly identified, even outside the complex of which it is part; users
can discover spaces and locations through a purely subjective sensory investigation,
which gives the environment an ‘emotional’ quality.
The same delicate balance is reflected in the choice of complements and accessories, all
of them selected from the finest contemporary design brands, so as to achieve an ideal
synthesis between the essentiality of the lines and the evocative power of the concepts
typically associated with traditional alpine furniture. This is well exemplified by the rocking
chairs, the tree-stump side tables reinterpreted by means of iron details, the white lamps in
the rooms, with their organic lines, the hand-crafted decorative elements, such as the
wooden tiebacks for the curtains, and the deer heads in white resin, a modern rendering of
an icon of the decor of mountain lodgings.
Each environment is characterised by a work of art. The hotel hosts works by various
contemporary artists and, with a view to offering the guests ever new opportunities for
enrichment, part of the collection on display will be renewed periodically, so as to enhance
the perception of a place that lives and offers new stimuli to the guests who come back to
stay season after season.
In order to ensure the wellbeing of the mind as well as that of the body, the utmost
attention was devoted to the facilities dedicated to personal care, designed and
constructed with the support of one of the best brands in this sector. The jewel in the
crown of the new hotel is its rich spa centre, comprised of: swimming pool, sauna, Turkish
bath, vitarium for chromotherapy and aromatherapy, Rasul vapour bath, massage rooms,
relaxation areas, as well as sections for private use by the hotel guests.
Needless to say, in order to protect one of Italy’s most enchanting and extraordinary
landscapes, great care was taken to minimise the environmental impact of the new
construction.
Where technical systems are concerned, of special notice is the up-to-the-minute remote
heating system connected to a central heating plant in La Thuile. Fuelled with wooden
biomass, the plant works in cogeneration mode, so that, besides heating the hotel
premises, it also supplies “clean” current to the public power grid.
The hotel is equipped with solar panels to provide a continuous supply of hot sanitary
water. All the faucets are fitted with aerators designed to reduce the quantity of water
consumed by mixing it continuously with water. The internal air recirculation and
purification system works at constant temperature.
The lighting is almost entirely by means of LED lights, which ensure much greater
efficiency and energy consumption levels drastically reduced compared with traditional
halogen systems.
The cladding of the building was designed to maximise the efficient use of energy by
making use of materials with a high insulating capacity. Doors and windows were selected
from among the products of excellence geared to energy saving.
All environments were designed by paying the utmost care to the selection and the origin
of the materials: reclaimed wood is used as a natural covering material, the parquet floors
are made from irregular wooden blocks, produced without generating waste (chips and
shavings). Finally, all the paints used are water based and the use of synthetic solvents
was reduced to the bare minimum.

Interior design: Studio Del Portico

Team: Arch. Simone Del Portico,
Arch. Anna Quattrocchi,
Arch. Simone Battani,
Arch. Silvana Citterio