Morphosis was commissioned to design the hotel following a controversial competition process, which saw the jury distance themselves from the appointment.1

Due for completion in 2019, the building will be part of the Vals resort, which already includes a hotel as well as a world-famous spa building by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. Japanese architect Tadao Ando is also designing a park for the site, called the Valser Path, which is due for completion in 2017.

"As much as possible, the hotel is a minimalist act that re-iterates the site and offers to the viewer a mirrored, refracted perspective of the landscape," said Mayne.

The 53,000sqm building will include 107 guest rooms and suites, as well as spas, a ballroom and a library, restaurants, a cafe, bar, sky bar and a gallery. It will also have a swimming pool and fitness centre.

"The tower's reflective skin and slender profile camouflage with the landscape, abstracting and displacing the valley and sky," said Morphosis. "The combination of one-room-per-floor and a narrow floor-plate afford exclusive panoramic views of the Alps."

"The new hotel and arrival is defined by three forms: a podium linking the building with neighboring structures; a cantilever containing a restaurant, cafe, spa, and bar – public amenities shared with the town; and a tower holding a sky bar, restaurant, and 107 guest rooms with panoramic views."

The structure is called the 7132 Tower after the client 7132 Ltd, which manages the resort in Vals.

  • 1.

    Jury "dissociated itself" with decision to appoint firm Morphosis.

    The jury tasked with selecting the design for a new hotel adjacent to Peter Zumthor's Therme Vals spa in Switzerland has "dissociated itself" with the client's decision to appoint Los Angeles firm Morphosis.

    The five jurors – led by competition chair Louisa Hutton of Berlin-based Sauerbruch Hutton – have issued a public statement through Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects (SIA) distancing themselves from the appointment, which they claim took place when "a decision had not yet been made".