A retreat for you, a paradise for building biologists
The Italian spa town of Merano lies in a wide valley that opens up from the South Tyrolean Alps to northern Italy. On the sunlit slopes, vine and fruit flourish as far as the eye can see. In summer, the trees hang full of crisp red apples. 70,000 square metres of this great landscape belong to the Theiner family. They practise organic farming here, and they also offer you the possibility of a sustainable holiday. A hotel with 57 rooms and a wellness area – in a completely wooden construction with earthen clay plastered walls.
Using the treasures of nature
The Theiner family had set out to offer holidays you can take with a good conscience in their organic hotel. But they created much more: a refuge where you can disconnect from everyday life and its many disturbances. In realising their vision, the same strict ecological standards with which they run their organic farm were also applied.
Partnering with the architectural firm baukraft, they developed a hotel building exclusively from natural building materials. The 4-star hotel is built entirely of wood – without metal or glue joints, plastic, synthetic insulation or assembly foams.
The walls of the guestrooms, corridors, the wellness area and the fireplace room are all plastered with clay earth. This natural building material corresponds exactly to the building-biology philosophy of the hotel. Earthen clay also regulates the humidity of the indoor climate – important in a wooden building, which tends to have dry indoor air.
Using the sun as a model
The clay-plastered walls not only create optimal indoor humidity but also pamper you with a pleasantly temperate room. An in-wall heating and cooling system was built into the four-centimetre-thick clay plaster.
An in-wall heating system, in combination with the heat accumulating properties of earthen clay, produces a pleasant radiant heat, like that of the sun. Objects in the room are heated directly without stirring up the air in the room and raising dust.
Appreciating the gifts of nature
In addition to its high building biology standards, the hotel attaches great importance to sustainable operation. The CO2 footprint you leave behind as a guest here is significantly smaller than is usual in hotels.
Also significantly reduced: Electrosmog. You will not find a minibar or television in the rooms. In addition, all electrical cables have been shielded. Without these, you will experience the other things the hotel has to offer, with all the more pleasure – the hotel restaurant, where you can enjoy gourmet cuisine made exclusively from organic food, or the Kneipp wellness centre, which uses the beneficial effects of water for its spa treatments.
Read more »Adhering to building biology standards – with Claytec
Building biology describes the relationship between a constructed environment, people and nature. Natural building materials such as clay earth promote well-being. Clay plaster, as used in Theiner’s Garten Hotel, does not contain any artificial additives. Natural additives such as straw can be used to adapt the properties to the area of application. Because of its ability to regulate humidity, clay plaster is an ideal wall surface for living spaces and bedrooms.
Furthermore, clay earth building materials are climate-friendly in their production and unproblematic in their disposal. They can even be recycled. The ideal building material for all those who attach particular importance to a healthy indoor environment and sustainable construction.
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