The tranquil Tyrolean mountain village of Steinberg am Rofan is regarded by locals as the ‘most beautiful place on earth’. Surrounded by three majestic mountain ranges, it lies in a wide, sunny valley basin.
Here stands the roughly 400-year-old Mesnerhof‑C – a successful example of the repurposing of vacant buildings in rural areas. The vision: to transform the long-abandoned complex into a retreat for communal living and working in the future. The focus was on preserving the farmstead’s character and integrating it into the mountain landscape.
Of the three buildings, the main house with the former farmers’ living quarters (‘Cabin’) and the former hay barn (‘Camp’) were renovated. Both combine old and new in different ways: the Cabin is simple and rustic, the Camp open, minimalist and ‘rough’. Natural building materials, as well as materials from the existing structure and the surrounding cultural landscape, were recombined. Together, the houses form a retreat for up to 37 people.
The former residential wing now serves as a self-catering house for up to ten people. Contemporary fixtures have been added to the rustic structure: washbasins by Philippe Starck rest on Grandma’s sideboard, washing-up bowls sit on ancient milking stools, and in the kitchen, hobs complement the restored wood-burning stove.
Where hay was once stored, there is now a spacious, open-plan area with an imposing timber structure, combining cooking, dining and living spaces and opening out onto the terrace. At the rear, a so-called ‘timber ship’ adjoins the building, serving as a workspace and exercise area.
In the attic, a sleeping area with mattresses stretches out, divided into units of two or four by recessed walls. All new fittings in the camp are made of rough-sawn silver fir. Panoramic cut-outs in the old panelling of the barn and a row of windows in the new dormer window offer sweeping views of the Tyrolean mountains.
Details
| Region | AT – Austria, Achensee region, Steinberg am Rofan |
| Scenery | Situated at an altitude of 1,000 metres on a hillside in the village, nestled within the alpine cultural landscape, a 15-minute drive from Lake Achensee; |
| Uses | |
| Number of Persons | |
| Accommodation | Cabin: 10 beds in 5 rooms; Camp: 27 beds in 11 dormitories (max. 37 people) |
| Event rooms |
A 170 m² “wooden ship” in the former hay barn, serving as a workspace for retreats and events, with access to an open-plan kitchen and terrace; |
| Equipment | Laser projector with screen, BYOD ScreenBeam, flipchart, 4 pinboards, flexible work desks; fully equipped kitchens, barbecue area; table football, darts, indoor boccia, yoga mats and blocks |
| Special features | A combination of renovated and as yet unused spaces; a fusion of a simple cabin and an open-plan camp as a contemporary interpretation of a mountain lodge – minimalist, communal, close to nature; a pioneering project for ‘new ways of working in the countryside’ with integrated co-living and working spaces. The ‘C’ in the name stands for zeitgeisty buzzwords that were intended to find a home here: Creation, Communication, Concentration. |
| Design | The hosts, Barbara Anselm and Georg Gasteiger, in collaboration with architect Andi Breuss, Vienna |
| Completion | 1614 / 2017 |
Impressions
0 Comments