Herzog & de Meuron
Project
2021-2023

Upon acquiring the property of the Mandarin Oriental Lago di Como, an established client reached out to Herzog & de Meuron to create a master plan for the future development of the resort. Based on this work, we were brought on to redesign the outdoor pool area and improve the existing spa. Located in the village of Blevio directly on the shore of Lago di Como, the hotel sits in a parklike garden and is housed within a collection of buildings dispersed throughout the lush landscape. At its heart sits the historic Villa Roccabruna, distinguished by rich interiors and public spaces. The Villa, the colonnaded retaining wall, the lake promenade, and the surrounding parkland, constitute an emblematic landmark that is an important part of the area’s history. The project has therefore been developed in close collaboration with local and national heritage groups.

The new floating pool is designed to blend into the waters when viewed from the lake, and to reveal as much as possible from the historic vaulted colonnade. The 40-meter-long pool is finished in a dark local Cardoso sandstone, giving the pool an appearance that closely mimics the colors of the lake. A deep sundeck clad with wood planking borders the pool on the Villa side; a long infinity edge facing the lake creates a kind of optical illusion, with the pool surface visually melting with the surface of Lago di Como. The external glossy deep-green color of the prefabricated steel structure reflects the water surface in its endless movement. Hermetically closed and engineered with catamaran-like form to reduce wave impact, the floating pool is invisibly secured to the lakebed and connected via ramp to the newly established bar and dining area of the colonnade. To accomplish this, a former gym and other back of house areas were carefully removed, and the historic vaults opened and activated. The recessed vaulted wooden cladding and wood decking of the bar and dining area, open from day to night, bring in a natural and warm material that echoes the classic wooden motorboats of the region’s nautical traditions.

While the pool area has been fully re-conceptualized, the wet and dry spa and reception areas have been improved while maintaining existing features that have not yet exhausted their usable lifespan. A main focus is the introduction of natural daylight into all three areas of the spa, and the establishment of multiple visible connections with the surrounding landscape. A new courtyard with an oculus carved out of the ceiling above becomes the core of the dry spa; the wet spa is opened with a new arched window over 4 meters in width that is punched out of the existing retaining wall, offering both a continuation of the arched colonnade to the interior as well as a view straight out to the lake. Small, existing windows in the reception area are visually extended by introducing a second layer of full-height windows with slender wooden frames; plantings between the two layers bring a sense of closer connection to the exterior.

In the reception area, materials and motifs from the villa above are referenced in the wood-framed vitrines and windows, the custom designed floral patterned textile wall panels and bespoke large-format Cardoso stone terrazzo floor. In the dry spa, the public spaces and treatment rooms are organized around the new landscaped courtyard and are conceived as a subtle nod to the Asian heritage of the Mandarin Oriental. For the wet spa, the existing sauna and steam room are maintained along with the existing indoor pool. In this area, the Cardoso sandstone floor is patched and honed; a new vaulted ceiling informed by the arches of the adjacent historic stone colonnade is rendered in a dark stucco and patterned with round glass tiles, each reflecting the surface of the lake, bringing light deeper into the space.

492_CP_230823_RR_0535
492_CP_230823_RR_0535
492_CP_230823_RR_1110
492_CP_230823_RR_1110
492_CP_230823_RR_1081
492_CP_230823_RR_1081
492_CP_230823_RR_0252
492_CP_230823_RR_0252
492_CP_230823_RR_0750
492_CP_230823_RR_0750
492_CP_230823_RR_0842_2
492_CP_230823_RR_0842_2
492_CP_230823_RR_0938
492_CP_230823_RR_0938
492_CP_230823_RR_0787
492_CP_230823_RR_0787
492_CP_230823_RR_0886
492_CP_230823_RR_0886
492_CP_230823_RR_0817
492_CP_230823_RR_0817
492_CP_230823_RR_0352
492_CP_230823_RR_0352
492_CP_230823_RR_0284
492_CP_230823_RR_0284
492_CP_230823_RR_0934
492_CP_230823_RR_0934
492_CP_230823_RR_0336
492_CP_230823_RR_0336

Process

Existing Conditions

492_SI_2010_165_MKR
492_SI_2010_165_MKR
492_SI_220125_031_200_MO
492_SI_220125_031_200_MO
492_SI_220125_031_317
492_SI_220125_031_317
492_SI_220125_031_240
492_SI_220125_031_240

Construction

492_CO_2301_Blevio_001
492_CO_2301_Blevio_001
492_CO_230322_059_Blevio-AFA
492_CO_230322_059_Blevio-AFA
492_CO_2301_012_Blevio-CS
492_CO_2301_012_Blevio-CS
492_CO_230118_174
492_CO_230118_174

492_VD_230402_POOL_001

492_CO_230118_173
492_CO_230118_173
492_CO_221212_001
492_CO_221212_001
492_CO_221206_038
492_CO_221206_038
492_CO_230325_237_Blevio
492_CO_230325_237_Blevio

492_VD_230315_WET_008

492_CO_230315_707_Blevio-AFA
492_CO_230315_707_Blevio-AFA
492_CO_2301_013_Blevio-CS
492_CO_2301_013_Blevio-CS

492_VD_230315_DRY_008

Drawings

492_DR_230919_SITE-PLAN-1-1000
492_DR_230919_SITE-PLAN-1-1000
492_DR_230919_LEVEL0
492_DR_230919_LEVEL0
492_DR_230919_LEVEL0-LEVEL-1_COMBINED
492_DR_230919_LEVEL0-LEVEL-1_COMBINED
492_DR_230919_SECTION-1
492_DR_230919_SECTION-1
492_DR_230919_SECTION-2
492_DR_230919_SECTION-2
492_DR_230919_SECTION-3
492_DR_230919_SECTION-3
492_DR_230919_POOL
492_DR_230919_POOL
492_DR_230919_POOL-DETAIL-SEC1
492_DR_230919_POOL-DETAIL-SEC1
492_DR_230919_POOL-DETAIL-SEC2
492_DR_230919_POOL-DETAIL-SEC2

Team

Facts

Client
Attestor Limited
Planning
Design Consultant : Herzog & de Meuron Basel., Basel, Switzerland
General Planning: Lombardini22, Milan, Italy
Specialist / Consulting
Floating Pool Expert: Bluet, Floating Solution, Vantaa, Finland
Lighting Consulting: Isometrix Lighting & Design, London, United Kingdom
Contractors
Pool Construction: Bluet, Vantaa, Finland
F&B Construction: Nove Consulting, Lamuntie, Finland
Natural Stone Works: Vallmar, Meda, Italy
General Contractor : L.a. Restyling S.r.l., Brescia, Italy
Furnishing & Internal Wood Works: Ramiro s.r.l., Vicenza, Italy
Furnishing: Hop Copper Studio, Cham, Switzerland
Internal Surface Treatments of Wet Spa: Sicis s.r.l., Ravenna, Italy
Wallcovering: Rubelli S.P.A., Venezia, Italy
Upholstery and Wallcovering installation: Ci.ti.elle, Torino, Italy
Lighting Fixtures: L Gomiero, Treviso, Italy
Internal Wood Doors and Windows: D-Fabrics, Varese, Italy
Internal Floor Finishes (Terrazzo): AM Top Boden Gmbh, Silvaplana, Switzerland
Building Data
Site Area: 62'430 sqft, 5'800 sqm
Gross floor area (GFA): 20'666 sqft, 1'920 sqm