Salzburg AG: winner of the architectural competition for Hotel am Schafberg
A jury of experts chose the favorites for the hotel on the Schafbergspitze, which is to be renewed.
ST. WOLFGANG. With the WolfgangseeSchifffahrt and the SchafbergBahn, the tourism subsidiary of Salzburg AG operates two of the most famous attractions in the Salzkammergut. Since 2019, the leased hotel on the Schafbergspitze has also been one of them. As part of the modernization offensive on the Schafberg, in addition to the further development of the valley station into an adventure district, a modernization of the Hotel Schafbergspitze was also examined. The winner of the architectural competition has now been determined.
Expert jury selected favorites for the Schafberg Summit Experience
As part of an international architecture competition, six architects’ offices had submitted their designs for the “Summit Experience Schafberg” project over the past few months.
The plan is to create a unique summit experience with a 4* hotel and an attractive range of restaurants, including for people who are not familiar with the hotel. The design by Valentiny hvp Architects from Luxembourg, which envisages a new building for the property, was ranked first.
Architect Mag. Arch. Francois Valentiny: “Out of respect for the mountain and nature, the architecture must be clearly subordinate, since it is ultimately about preserving the beauty of the Schafberg for people and making it tangible.”
Architect Dipl.-Ing. Gerhard Mitterberger, chairman of the jury: “The winning project best manages the balancing act that results from the demands of the outstanding landscape, nature conservation, summit experience, intensive tourist use and technical innovation of the late 19th century, through striking and true-to-scale self-evidence.”
Daniela Kinz, co-managing director of Salzburg AG Tourismus GmbH, congratulated the award winner and emphasized a key aspect of the project: “A modern hotel project on the top of the Schafberg would ideally complement our range of offers at the Salzkammergut location. A new hotel building on the top of the Schafberg has the potential to become a tourist beacon in the region, giving new impetus to the entire tourism industry in the Salzkammergut.”
Special focus on sustainability
The jury’s decision is the starting point for the planning phase that follows, which takes place in close coordination with the experienced project developers at Salzburg AG. There is a clear focus, according to Kinz: “The visionary design by Valentiny hvp best reflects our strict requirements in the areas of sustainability. We are aware that the construction work will take place in a specific landscape environment. Therefore, issues such as minimizing soil sealing, preserving biodiversity and nature conservation play an important role for us.” We will therefore take the time to comprehensively consider these aspects in the planning. A date for the start of construction has therefore not yet been set. The ongoing operation of the existing Hotel Schafbergspitze will continue to be guaranteed.
Opening of the ErlebnisQuartier in spring 2023
The new construction of the valley station of the SchafbergBahn is at the top of the list of priorities, says Daniela Kinz: “For the time being, however, our entire focus is on the opening of the ErlebnisQuartier at the foot of the Schafberg, where we will be offering an attractive experience with gastronomy, a museum zone and event facilities from spring 2023 .”
Mario Mischelin, co-managing director of Salzburg AG Tourismus GmbH, adds: “In terms of operations, our goal is to put the dent in visitor numbers caused by the corona pandemic behind us as quickly as possible. The reopening of the ErlebnisQuartier in spring 2023 will help us on this path, so that we can soon repeat the record result of 2019 and then take the next growth steps.”
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