A generational change in the hotel industry is always an opportunity. The renovation of the Park Hotel Franceschi in Cortina d’Ampezzo was entrusted to the South Tyrolean architecture and design studio NOA. A good choice: the combination of old and new is impressive.
Cortina d’Ampezzo has already hosted the Winter Olympics once. Exactly 70 years later, in 2026, the who’s who of winter sports will gather there once again. The northern Italian municipality in the province of Belluno in Veneto with around 6,000 inhabitants has always been a renowned winter and mountain sports centre. Alpine World Ski Championships were held there in 1932 and 1941. And: together with eleven other Italian winter sports resorts, Cortina d’Ampezzo is part of the Dolomiti Superski network. The ‘most beautiful mountains in the world’, as the UNESCO World Heritage Dolomites are often called, boast 1,200 kilometres of pistes and the latest generation of mountain lifts.
Refined and conscious alpine experience
The historic Park Hotel Franceschi in the centre of Cortina d’Ampezzo is already in position for the major event in 2026. Under the direction of the architecture and interior design firm NOA the renovation has been tackled. The aim was to transform the hotel into a year-round holiday destination. Cortina’s heritage and the history of the hotel were to merge into a new form of ‘alpine elegance’ and offer a conscious alpine experience.
Just a few steps from Corso Italia, the Park Hotel Franceschi has been welcoming guests since 1922. In its more than one hundred years of history, during which the hotel has been extended and renovated several times, the building has developed an architecture that epitomises the classic Alpine style of Cortina. This is characterised by turrets on the sides. With the generational change, the owners have decided to take a new direction. A new concept should attract guests all year round.
First phase: New ground floor
The South Tyrolean studio NOA designed a mission statement and divided the work into three phases. The first phase, which included the renovation of the public areas on the ground floor, has already been completed. In the coming years, the rooms will be renovated and the extension of the building will continue. At the same time, functional improvements will be realised with new wellness areas.
On the ground floor, 770 square metres were waiting for the past to enter into a harmonious symbiosis with the future, tradition with innovation – whereby typical and unique things are always worth preserving.
Individual pieces with character were allowed to stay
The large and bright rooms appeared gloomy and cluttered due to the use of lots of wood and mouldings, dusty, heavy textiles and an outdated colour palette. However, there was no shortage of characterful individual pieces from past centuries, some with fine inlays, most of which have been preserved. These include a number of cupboards and chests, historical paintings depicting the Franceschi family and two impressive tiled stoves.
Before we started with the new furnishing concept, we picked out the most interesting furnishings that we wanted to reintegrate into the project. Especially in rooms like this that are steeped in history, it’s never about starting from scratch, but rather about creating order and making room for new elements.
Maddalena Gioseffi, Architektin NOA
The ‘new’ ground floor of the Hotel now has modernised rooms to welcome guests. The large, multifunctional lobby spans the entire floor. As the first point of contact, it plays a key role in ensuring that guests are happy to return.
A warm welcome in the refurbished lobby
The historic desk looks good in the reception area. It has an integrated mail slot, which you might think is antiquated in this day and age. And yet it fits in well with the ambience.
The new resin flooring that has been used to refresh the lobby and give it a new look is also fitting. From here, guests are guided to the right wing. The bar, parlour and lounge are located there one after the other. The left wing houses the breakfast buffet, the restaurant with its three dining rooms, the kitchen and the administrative offices.
The interiors are a journey through different eras. The two magnificent tiled stoves in a blue-grey colour have of course been retained. They set the mood for the colour palette, particularly in terms of the contrasting shades of yellow.
We have transferred the elegant blue-grey colour of the tiled stoves to the fabrics and paired it with a touch of yellow. This gives the lobby a relaxed and modern atmosphere.
Maddalena Gioseffi, Architect NOA
Comfortable seating from Gervasoni, which has been producing seating furniture since 1882, and Innova Imbottiti are draped in the bar room. They are arranged around the stove and under an ornate vaulted ceiling, while a single row of tables is positioned parallel to the large window. In the adjoining parlour, rustic Alpine chairs provide traditional seating.
View of the park and the 3,000 metre high peaks
The centrepiece of the new ground floor is the large salon, which closes off the right wing – with an elegant coffered ceiling, accentuated by hanging lamps. And with large windows. From here, there is a visual connection to the Hotel park. All around you have a view of the surrounding peaks.
The village lies at an altitude of 1,211 metres above sea level in the Valle del Boite in the Ampezzo Dolomites. Cortina d’Ampezzo is the largest populated centre of the Dolomite Ladin language community. The highest mountain peaks include the Tofana di Mezzo massif, with a summit height of 3,244 metres, Monte Cristallo (3,221 m) and Punta Sorapiss (3,205 m).
But back to the tranquil and luxurious overnight accommodation in the revitalised Park Hotel Franceschi: a stove also forms the focal point of the room concept in the lounge. Various seating areas are arranged around it. Reading islands, sofas and a large bench built into the arched window ‘react to the centrifugal force of the stove and orientate themselves around it’.
As already mentioned, the left wing of the ground floor is entirely dedicated to catering functions. Here, too, tradition harmoniously meets contemporary design: one example is the glass portal that leads to the buffet area. It is a light and delicate entrance that contrasts beautifully with the ‘rich materiality’ of the existing vaulted ceiling. The custom-made buffet furniture with stone tops and rounded corners not only emphasises the aesthetics of the space, but is also designed to make it easier for guests to access the food.
The restaurant with its L-shaped main dining room is characterised by a constant change of white and blue chairs, conical and flat cylindrical lamps. This prevents boredom from setting in. The tables are arranged in two rows facing each other, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a Parisian promenade.
Family tree meets Pedrali chairs and pendant lights
An intimate room there, which is completely clad in wood, serves as a separate room, a séparée. In this room, the NOA designers have taken particular care to preserve the historical charm. Pedrali is the chair supplier here. The wooden seating, the tables and the black, tubular pendant lights lend a modern touch to the ‘parlour’, where the Franceschi family tree, which dates back to 1289, is emblazoned on the wall.
What characterises NOA and is also well expressed in the ‘Revamp’ of the Hotel Franceschi is NOA’s motto: ‘Our designs tell real stories of courageous people living together.’ In this sense, they never stop pushing the boundaries.
‘Entire regions function better without car traffic’
Among other things, ‘anyone practising architecture and design today has to deal with questions of sustainability, be it in ecological, social or economic terms’, says NOA. ‘In our projects, we venture outside the box to recognise the synergies and opportunities of each area.’ This is meant in topographical and geographical terms, because ‘this allows us to read the complex mosaic of a place in its entirety and discover, for example, that entire regions function better without car traffic’.
NOA – network of architecture is an award-winning architecture and design studio founded in 2011 by Lukas Rungger and Stefan Rier and based in Bolzano, Italy. The realisations are characterised by a collaborative work ethic and an interdisciplinary design methodology. Creative teams are always put together on a project-by-project basis.
NOA therefore serves as a stage, or platform, for architects, interior designers, product, fashion or graphic designers, … through to musicians, writers and historians – with the collective aim of synergistically optimising the expertise of the various specialists.
NOA has always focussed on hotels as a type of use – and often on projects in Alpine regions. One sensational commission was „Hub of Huts“ for the luxury Hotel Hubertus in the Italian Puster Valley. It looks like a mirrored village around a free-floating pool.
Text: Linda Benkö
Fotos: Alex Filz
