Guernerés Recasts the Alpine Chalet with Warm Timber and Brass Glow
Guernerés opens onto the slopes of Grimentz, Switzerland, with chalet interiors by Amel Epiney. The project gathers luxury lodges near the village and orients living rooms to the snow fields. Inside, timber cladding, dark stone hearths, and brass-lit kitchens create a rich alpine palette that pivots from ski mornings to long fireside evenings.
Snow brightens the balcony rails and pours through tall glazing. Inside, the rooms answer with warm timber, dark stone, and a low, steady flame.
This chalet development in Grimentz gathers lodges and apartments envisioned by Amel Epiney. The work concentrates on interior palette and furnishing, using wood, stone, metals, and layered textiles to tune light and warmth across long winters. It reads alpine, yet the details push contemporary.
Timber Sets Tone
Walls, ceilings, and soffits are wrapped in planked wood with visible grain. The material runs room to room, tying kitchen, dining, and lounge while framing a calmer backdrop for mountain views. Overhead, exposed beams and lofted ceilings lift the living area, and built-in benches by the glass create a quiet perch.
Hearths and Stone
A dark stone chimney anchors the main volume. The firebox sits low beside a slab hearth that doubles as a ledge for logs and small objects, keeping the floor clear for movement. On the opposite side, a stone-faced partition carries the television and conceals storage, letting the masonry do visual work without clutter.
Soft Light Strategy
Warm LEDs wash the upper walls and the windowed clerestory, cutting glare at night. Brass pendants drop over the dining table and along the compact kitchen, echoing the gold-flecked backsplash and adding a gentle sparkle to the wood. Daylight pulls deep into the plan through corner glazing, so the hearth reads bright rather than brooding.
Textures for Winter
The rooms lean on tactility. Shearling chairs, wool throws, and layered rugs temper the plank floors as sofas stay in pale, heavy weaves that catch light. Rounded coffee tables in wood and metal soften the rectilinear shell, and a wall of backlit niches turns storage into a quiet ambient plane.
Private Rooms, Calmer Tones
Bedrooms keep the timber language but dim the palette with taupe drapery and matte metals. Some suites bring a freestanding tub under the sloped roof, where creamy stone and a simple ladder rack make a small bathing retreat. Glass partitions and concealed lighting maintain clarity without breaking the warm rhythm of wood.
From the sofas, the balcony frames snowy ridgelines and long sky. Materials carry the mood back indoors, so evenings fold into the same quiet register as the view. The result feels grounded, made for winter days and unhurried nights.
Photography courtesy of Amel Epiney
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