In a recent photo series, Paul Clemence turns his lens toward Bjarke Ingels Group's (BIG) Hôtel des Horlogers, located in the Swiss Village of Le Brassus in Switzerland. Previously known as Hôtel de France, which opened in 1857, Audemars Piguet reimagined the project. BIG, an international studio known for avant-garde architecture and experimentation, continues to see this claim to its end through the design of a compact structure made up of five floors, with its rooms connected in a single zig-zag path. Designed in collaboration with the Swiss design firm, CCHE, a futuristic structural form featuring layers of long ramps was assembled for Audemars Piguet's vision of a luxury hotel.
Hôtel des Horlogers is a design solution tuned with the desire to create a specific connection between the indoor and outdoor to allow patrons the system of a totally immersive experience. Clemence captures how the structure seamlessly melts into the topography of its surrounding valley, Vallée de Joux. Equipped with fifty rooms and suites, each secluded space harbors awe-inspiring views of the Risoud forest and is built following the highest standards of eco-responsible tourism.
The structure is completed by two restaurants, Brasserie Le Gogant and Restaurant La Table des Horlogers, with cuisine signed by Michelin Star Chef, Emmanuel Renaut, the Bar des Horlogers, Le Spa by Alpeor, featuring a wellness area and two cabins for facials and massages, a fitness room, thus, tied off with two meeting and event rooms equipped with state-of-the-art technology and bathed in natural daylight, Salle Clous de Paris and Salle Côtes de Genève.
CCHE's objective was to propose a project with a strong identity capable of embodying the rebirth of luxury tourism in the region, laying the foundations of a new style specific to the Vallée de Joux. The interior aims to reflect the hotel's natural surroundings, filled with the warm, mellow tones of locally sourced wood and stone and rustic furniture.
The hotel in its completion, therefore, finds its inspiration in the world and codes of watchmaking with a layout and furniture representing precision, refinement, and attention to detail: characteristics that Clemence skillfully highlights throughout the photo series.
Paul Clemence is an award-winning writer and photographer exploring the field of architecture and design, his work is renowned in ArchDaily, Metropolis, and Casa Vogue Brazil among others. His published work, Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, remains the most complete photo documentation of the residential design to date.
See the full series and learn more information about his work on his Facebook page Archi-photo.
