Monastery Arx Vivendi | Arco – Italy
In the centre of Arco, at the northern tip of Lake Garda, the seventeenth-century Monastery of the Servants of Mary of Sorrows is transformed by NOA into a wellness hotel, preserving intact the monumental strength, peaceful atmosphere and spiritual dimension of the place. The intervention, developed in close collaboration with the Trento Heritage Authority, involves the south wing of the complex, while the church and enclosed retreat remain in religious use.
The renovation converts the monastery into an accommodation structure with 40 rooms, including 2 suites. The ground floor houses the reception, lobby, breakfast room, lounge, bar and kitchen. On the first floor, a monumental corridor of almost 50 metres distributes the rooms, each created by merging two former cells: sleeping area in one and bathroom in the other, with the original doors preserved on the corridor side. In the attic, restored timber roof trusses and a continuous ridge skylight bring light to corridors and rooms through glazed fanlights.
In the internal garden, a sequence of seven lightweight glass and metal volumes, aligned along a central stone spine inspired by Lake Garda’s lemon houses, accommodates the new wellness area. The spa includes relaxation areas, treatment rooms, bio sauna, Finnish sauna, a wellness circuit around a large heated dark stone and a naturally styled bio-lake.
The interiors respect monastic austerity through bespoke solutions: hand-planed oak in the rooms, natural-effect tiles in the bathrooms and metal canopy beds with black oak inserts. In the wellness area, milled wood panels featuring the stylised pomegranate motif, the symbol of the monastery, complete an atmosphere suspended between spirituality and contemporary hospitality.
Year
2021
Architecture Studio
NOA – Network of Architecture
Photography
Andrea Dal Negro, Alex Filz
