A holiday home with a fantastic view was to be redesigned to suit the specific needs of the new owners. Freed from the clichéd attributes of a supposedly “alpine style” and totally renovated, it now gleams in white. The interior of the house has been transformed completely: the atmosphere of the bright spaces is created by the warm colours of natural materials.

Often, building in alpine regions means confronting a situation shaped by what is called an “alpine style“. Without any reference to the history of architecture the farmhouse established itself as the prototypical architectural model for what was supposedly a “local” culture of building. Misunderstood heritage protection allied with tourism management and speculation, combined with a considerable portion of architectural ignorance has resulted in aesthetic monotony. In the Soras House, which was built in the 1980s, no overall architectural or spatial concept could be identified. Any expression that the building had was based on stylistic quotations and crude imitations. The intervention therefore aimed at transforming the house into consistent and coherent architecture.
The stylistic quotes in wood were removed and, where necessary, the position of the windows was corrected, giving the masonry-built house a clear expression. In the interior corrective interventions clarified the layout of the rooms and improved their relationship to each other. Through the use of natural materials a controlled, warm colour scheme was created. A long dry stone wall, a traditional element often found in this cultivated landscape, was restored from an almost ruinous condition to form the boundary to the garden and was extended to the entrance forecourt.
Low concrete walls zone the immediate surroundings of the house and create attractive outdoor areas. As a contrast to the white of the facades these walls are dark grey and sand blasted.