A Swiss chalet houses a high-end restaurant and hotel designed by Space Copenhagen – OnOffice

Haute Cuisine: Space Copenhagen’s interiors for high-end Swiss restaurant and hotel Mammertsberg mix luxury and comfort, providing a space you’d want to come home to

When in 2022 renowned Swiss chef Andreas Caminada snapped up Mammertsberg – a high-end restaurant with six cosy bedrooms in a traditional Swiss chalet facing out onto Lake Constance – he invited design studio Space Copenhagen to give it a gentle refresh. “He wanted to try something new here – a more Scandinavian approach,” says Space Copenhagen’s co-founder Signe Bindslev Henriksen.

The studio was given just six months to work on the project but Henriksen and co-founder Peter Bundgaard Rützou embraced the challenge. The historic inn had already been updated by famed Zurich architect Tilla Theus, who added a grand spiralling staircase, a glass lift and a modern structure to the side which houses the kitchens and the breakfast room with panoramic views to the lake.

The designers worked with the frame of the building to carefully meld the old with the new: “It is a really beautifully composed building with big openings, high ceilings, panelling and a lot of cosy woodwork,” says Henriksen. The aim was to make Mammertsberg feel like a soft, relaxing place, much like someone’s comfortable home, so the designers introduced greenery to the interiors as well as an organic palette of materials, such as wood in subdued tones, leather, warm metals, wool and linen.

“We composed the restaurant in a way that felt more like a big living room with tables spread around but also long tables that could be used for large groups or for communal dining,” says Henriksen. The solid oak tables were handcrafted by Copenhagen-based carpenter Malte Gormsen. Rén Dining Chairs, designed by Space Copenhagen for Stellar Works, which come in a soaped walnut and light linen upholstery by Astrid, complement the layout. The windows look out onto the gardens and newly introduced linen curtains make the wood-panelled dining space feel warm and cosy.

Chef Caminada has handed over the reins to his young protege Silvio Germann, who has crafted a tasting menu which sees guests start their evening in a spacious upstairs lounge. Here Space Copenhagen added a small open kitchen, Mathieu Matégot’s sculptural wall lights made by Gubi as well as comfortable leather sofas by iconic Swiss manufacturer De Sede. Guests then descend the grand spiralling staircase, which was added by Theus, to the main dining area; as part of the refurb, the staircase’s shell was clad in black foil to make it a more subtle feature.

Space Copenhagen had been waiting for an opportunity to work with De Sede and this proved the perfect project. “From an aesthetic point of view, the pieces were very much in line with what we wanted to do with that space – the sofas have these soft edges and can be easily fitted around the walls – and that worked really well here,” says Henriksen. “We also worked with some local carpenters to do all the millwork pieces and tried to work as much as we could with local stone
and local craftsmen.”

As part of the project Space Copenhagen also updated the guest rooms, bringing in warm materials and subtle colours and incorporating softly shaped lounge pieces by &Tradition.

Throughout the spaces, lights and chandeliers have been handpicked for their sculptural qualities, including delicate, Bauhaus-inspired mobile chandeliers by Michael Anastassiades in the main dining room and an Ingo Maurer pendant in the reception. In an interesting twist, the designers retained the smoking lounge but updated the furniture. “These days, this is a novelty,” says Rützou.

For Caminada, Space Copenhagen was the perfect fit for his vision. “We wanted an interior that fits the grandeur of this historic country castle and gives the rooms a certain cosmopolitan timelessness,” he says.

The designers muse that the chefs’ energy and enthusiasm for the project might well be the reason why they were given such a short timeframe. “The short turnaround kept everyone really focused but flexible – the story was written as we engaged with the space,” says Rützou. “We got to know each other really well and things became less formal,” adds Henriksen. “Actually it was a lot of fun.”

Images by Joachim Wichmann

As featured in OnOffice 162, Spring 2023. Read a digital version of the issue for free.