Space Copenhagen reimagines Hotel Schloss Schauenstein

Nestled in the heart of the Swiss Alps, surrounded by snow-crowned peaks and alpine waters, there’s nowhere I’d like to hunker down more on a wet and windy weekend than Hotel Schloss Schauenstein. Already a much-celebrated destination for food lovers, thanks to Michelin-starred chef Andreas Caminda, now this sensory-led restaurant and its adjacent historic guest house have been reimagined by none other than Space Copenhagen.

Working across multiple disciplines from interior design for private homes, hotels and restaurants through to art direction, furniture and lighting, Space Copenhagen are a design studio renowned for their elegant restraint and nowhere is this more evident than at the 12^th-century Hotel Schloss Schauenstein.

Creating a delicate dialogue that bridges both the past and the present, co-founders Signe Bindslev Henriksen and Peter Bundgaard Rützou, as well as their wider team, have demonstrated a deep respect for craft, materiality and connection.

From entering the lobby guests are greeted with timeless pieces by Copenhagen based Studio Oliver Gustav, including a stone side table by Maverick Lee and a brass table lamp by Michael Verheyden. While in the dining room, found rightfully at the heart of the hotel, soft sculptural lighting provides an instant intimacy and grandeur, with the tableware and cutlery, which can be set for up to 34 guests, sitting happily alongside customised Sela dining chairs from Portuguese brand De La Espada.

In contrast, the Chimney Room Bar is a cocooning space of warm woods and russet tones. Here Space Copenhagen’s Loafer lounge chairs for &Tradition, as well as a number of Stay chairs for Gubi, and Frama’s Sintra Stone Lounge Tables combine to make the cosiest of atmospheres.

This is more than a renovation however, as throughout all the interiors, Space Copenhagen have also ensured that original pieces salvaged from around the castle have been refreshed and reupholstered, seamlessly integrating them alongside the more contemporary designs, and further layering the timeless and deeply personal feel of the narrative.

“Each room is a study in understated elegance, deliberately stripped of excess to let the architecture, and the guest’s own experience, breathe,” says Signe Bindslev Henriksen, co-founder of Space Copenhagen. “No two rooms are the same; each offers its own sense of place.”

While Peter Bundgaard Rützou adds, “There’s a rare stillness to the rooms. They offer different forms of respite, but all share a sense of comfort, privacy, and connection to the landscape. We hope guests feel less like they’re checking into a hotel and more like they’re being welcomed into a thoughtfully curated retreat.”