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Sunlit vineyards and a breathtaking view of the South Tyrolean Alps: Hotel Castel combines hospitality, culinary delights and nature in a five-star ambience above Merano. The daylight and artificial lighting design for the building complex, which was renovated and sensitively supplemented in 2021, was penned by Bartenbach. One of the highlights - in the truest sense of the word - is the lighting concept for the hotel's own gourmet restaurant "Castel finedining".
In 2021, the Dobitsch operating family demolished the gem in the hills above Merano in large parts and rebuilt it. The extension with entrance area, terrace, hotel restaurant and gourmet restaurant was harmoniously added to the existing building, visually there is hardly any difference.
Guests have breakfast and dinner in the Castel's hotel restaurant, and the Dobitsch family also hosts parties or gala dinners there. In order to achieve optimal illumination of food and drinks and at the same time create a cosy atmosphere, Bartenbach relied on automatic lighting control. Adapted to the respective time of day or season, this adjusts the artificial light and colour temperature to the natural daylight. Whether sunshine or cloudy skies - the lighting control system guarantees optimal lighting conditions at all times.
Glare-free lighting systems with high-quality lighting technology - for example miniaturised reflectors and downlights as recessed ceiling luminaires - provide brilliant light. Wallwasher perforated spotlights serve as skylights and perfectly complement the daylight. Even during festivities in the evening, the restaurant is illuminated without glare. Decorative wall luminaires provide additional light for the planting areas: They are optimally matched to the interior design of the room and support the hospitable, upscale atmosphere in the hotel restaurant.
Pre-installed lighting scenes facilitate handling.
A special feature of the hotel restaurant is that the artificial light can be adapted to the desired situation or festivity at any time. Precisely analysed and programmed lighting scenes automatically take into account the lighting situation at different times of the day and year - without the operator or staff having to become active themselves.
Adjacent to the hotel restaurant is the so-called "buffet" - a separate area without daylight incidence. Depending on the time of day, a glare-free lighting system with high illuminance levels casts sunlight-like rays onto the walls. Brightness and light colour vary automatically in the course of the day, giving the room a natural appearance.
Säulen mit „Sonnenstrahlen“
The entrance to the hotel has been covered with a canopy. Even in bad weather, guests can drive up to the Castel and enter or leave on dry feet. In order to create a reference to daylight under the canopy as well, Bartenbach has illuminated the supporting columns with narrowly radiating light lines. They are reminiscent of the sun's rays and are based on a lighting design that integrates perception-psychological findings from Bartenbach's research and development department.
Atmospherically staged outdoor area.
Nothing was left to chance in the outdoor area of the hotel complex either: The green spaces are lovingly furnished with small details such as a flowing stream. For an eye-catching staging and beautiful atmosphere, Bartenbach installed small lights in the flowing water on the ground. These shine upwards onto the house wall, which reflects the light back onto the pavement. Light strips have been installed on the railings of the installation, which shine downwards onto the footpaths and thus create orientation. A cosy atmosphere at dusk and in the dark is created by ground spike lights and plant spotlights with special spotlights for the outdoor area.
From the large terrace with adjoining bar, hotel guests enjoy a dreamlike view of the Merano Alps. Earth spike luminaires in large planters set warm light accents and create a cosy atmosphere in the evening.
Special lighting solution for exceptional enjoyment.
The culinary highlight of the hotel is the gourmet restaurant "Castel finedining" on the first floor of the extension. In order to place the exquisite dishes and the enjoyment of fine wines at the centre of the experience, the client wanted a permanently installed but concealed lighting design. Castel finedining" relies on different table sizes that are arranged at fixed positions in the room, depending on the booking situation. But not every luminaire illuminates a table perfectly and adapts to different table sizes.
That's why Bartenbach opted for a special lighting solution and developed its own zoom spot with a rotatable lens in-house. The custom-made spot solution makes it possible to perfectly illuminate both large and smaller round tables - without causing glare. The client came up with a well thought-out system of different table arrangements, to which the Zoom spots were aligned and permanently installed. Depending on the occasion and the desired atmosphere, various pre-installed lighting scenes can be switched on and off and changed via the lighting control system. The colour temperature can be adjusted to a cosy 2,000 K (warm white). Bartenbach has equipped the rest of the gourmet restaurant with low ambient lighting so that the focus is on the tables: culinary delights in the best light.
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