Ambience of the Dolomites Spa Resort at the foot of the three peaks of Lavaredo

On the other side of the Sesto stream and below the Schusterspitze there is a sprawling meadow with larches as tall as church towers. A larch forest, almost a fairytale forest. These summer-green coniferous trees, which are rock steady thanks to their deep roots and hard, resinous wood, grow up to 40 metres tall. The larch is as much a part of the mountain landscape of the Alps as the mountains themselves; it grows at altitudes of 1000 to 2000 metres above sea level and can live to be more than 500 years old.

Their wood resists wind and weather and is extremely stable. For as long as anyone can remember, parts of buildings and roofs that are under heavy strain have been made from it, as well as agricultural implements and carts, plus furniture, to which its fiery texture lends a special appeal.

The larchers - “Larcher” was an increasingly common surname in Tyrol - drilled holes in the larches to extract their resin to make medicines and turpentine oil. When the tender green clusters of needles once again appear in the larch crowns in spring, then the hardest part of winter in the mountains is finally over.

The long and flexible branch cords can be bound into plaits into which the first flower buds that grow all around in the meadows can be inserted.

In summer there are mushrooms and toadstools that are only comfortable in their company, whilst in autumn their needles turn from green to golden yellow and flaming red, and then long after the deciduous trees have cast off their leaves, the larch too lets them fall onto the often snowy ground.

Even during its winter sleep and thanks to its cloak of needles, this tree continues to radiate the strength and peace common to those who know that even the hardest times will eventually come to an end. This gentle giant only fears one thing: the dark spruce forests. Where spruce spread, the larch withdraws, up to the very highest alpine pastures where only arolla pines still stand and stone pines creep. They can live with them; they are friends!

From whose velvety soft wood the Madonnas and Lord Jesus were carved for every corner. So many, that over one hundred years ago, this wonderful tree was threatened with extinction.

Arolla pines are the extreme mountaineers of the tree world - they can be found even on the narrowest shelves in vertical rock faces, firmly grasping on to rocky crevices and the smallest cracks up to altitudes of over 2000 metres. Their wood is resinous and rich in essential oils, whose fragrance is still evident decades after being cut down. The positive characteristics of the wood of the “Queen of the Alps” have been highly prized and much exploited for centuries. For the first time, this knowledge has been subjected to an empirical scientific analysis. Scientists from the JOANNEUM RESEARCH institute in Weiz, Austria, evaluated the positive effects of arolla pine wood on the human body on behalf of an interregional research programme using a blind study.

A longitudinal study confirmed the significant impact of arolla pine wood as a material for making furniture on people’s physical and mental state. People enjoyed a significantly better quality of sleep in an arolla pine bed in comparison with a wood veneer bed. The better night-time rest accompanies a lower heart rate and increased vibrancy of the body during the course of the day. The average “saving” in the arolla pine bed stands at 3500 beats per day, which corresponds to around an hour’s work for the heart.

And the restaurant industry also benefits from this wonder-tree too: the tasty and nutritious seeds, the “pine nuts” which contain 70% fat and 20% protein, are today used as a delicacy and for baking as well as for preparing pine schnapps.

“It has been a long time since we, as architects, had it so easy in the choice of woods for a hotel: here in Bad Moos they grow right outside the door...”

According to an ancient legend, for many years, two stags would meet at full moon to drink from the sulphur spring in Bad Moos. They were always the strongest and biggest in the area. This observation made the “spa bath” well known. But then came wars and turmoil in the land and the stags disappeared. Two decades ago, for the first time, stags were sighted here again, and today they range through the forests around the Bad Moos spring, strong and mighty.

A good and beautiful sign...

For us, a perfectly matched motif in the design of the BAD MOOS!