This is the latest instalment of The Inside Story, Wallpaper’s series spotlighting intriguing, innovative and industry-leading interior design.
If you’re toying with the idea of buying yourself a skiing retreat, let this be the inspiration you need. Spanish architect and designer Patricia Urquiola has turned her attention to the Swiss Alps, unveiling Maya, a collection of 17 residences and penthouses in Andermatt Reuss in the heart of Andermatt.
Maya sidesteps rustic clichés – no saccharine chalet nostalgia here – in favour of something more cosmopolitan. Set along the town’s central retail boulevard, the development comprises 14 apartments and three penthouses that fuse contemporary minimalism with tactile warmth. Urquiola’s signature is evident in the layering: gentle, earthy tones offset by moments of colour, and sculptural lighting casting a soft glow across bespoke and collectible furnishings.
Light is the protagonist here. Private loggias, enclosed by curved floor-to-ceiling glazing, frame views of mountains and woodland, while expansive windows pull the landscape in. Materiality is handled with a confident, almost sensual touch: fireplaces carved into walls of green Salvan stone; oak cabinetry and herringbone parquet underfoot; textural, authentic finishes. Urquiola nods to traditional Swiss architecture – its timber structures, intimate scale and reliance on local materials – yet recasts these references through organic forms and innovative techniques.
Colour, too, is reimagined. Rather than retreating into a predictable palette of creams and pine, Urquiola introduces rich greens, earthen browns and mineral greys – tones drawn directly from forest, rock and soil. They echo the surrounding landscape while lending the interiors depth and dynamism.
‘I think, when we talk about reinterpretation, it’s a process much like the evolution of classic designs or reinterpreted pieces of music,’ says the designer. ‘We’re not discarding the past, but rather allowing it to evolve with the tools, materials and technologies of today. In the case of the Maya residences, we honour the tradition of Alpine homes – the warmth, the natural materials and the connection to nature – while integrating modern comfort, sustainability and innovation.’
Community and sociability are central to Maya. Urquiola imagines residents as design-literate, outdoors-inclined and convivial; living spaces are therefore calibrated for gathering, dining and evenings spent recounting days on the slopes.
That ethos extends to the building’s culinary offering. The ground floor is home to IGNIV Andermatt, created in collaboration with celebrated Swiss chef Andreas Caminada, whose three Michelin stars and 19 GaultMillau points speak to a culinary ambition that mirrors the project’s design credentials.
Maya moves decisively beyond the ‘Swiss chocolate box’ cliché. Rather than leaning on nostalgia, the project demonstrates that Alpine homes can feel warm and cocooning through thoughtful, modern interplays of texture, tone and proportion.