challenge of creativity > Waldhotel Healthy Living Bürgenstock, Switzerland Milan-based Matteo Thun & Partners has dismantled the idea of the sterile-looking hospital that has come to define healthcare with the 160room Waldhotel Healthy Living wellness facility in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, set to open next year. As the name suggests, sustainability was key to the concept: the project will use the water from nearby Lake Lucerne to cool the facility and 124 September 2016 hospitalitydesign.com healthcare achieves a small carbon footprint by being built with natural materials like wood and stone from the region. The building's façades are designed with gabions filled with limestone recovered from the excavation and shaped by an external lattice structure made from local larch wood meant to shut out direct sunlight. The gardencovered terraced structure and flat green roofs create natural insulation and protect from rain or snow while also helping the building seamlessly blend into the countryside. The design itself is "immersed in the lush biosphere created by the forest and overlooking Lake Lucerne," Thun says, where "a deliberate use of light and color" and a combination of inside and outside "offers breathtaking panoramic views to the glaciers on the border to Italy."http://www.hospitalitydesign.com