The Design Concept: "Back to the Future — The Chalet Reimagined"

CD: The concept is titled “Back to the Future — The Chalet Reimagined.” Designing chalets has been one of the most rewarding focuses of the studio for the past five years, and this commission was an opportunity to articulate where I believe chalet design is heading next.

The lounge celebrates the heritage of alpine life — timber, fire, craft, the rituals of gathering — but reinterprets it through a contemporary lens, with a particular nod to the decadence of the 1970s Italian ski-scene. It is a chalet designed for all four seasons rather than only for winter, drawing on heritage without being constrained by it.

The Visitor Experience: Creating a Space to Linger

A space that feels less like an exhibition stand and more like somewhere you would actually want to linger. 

A sculptural circular fireplace anchors the room, with four curved seating quarters drawn around it — intimacy held within grandeur. 

To one side, a Bar & Dining Club for arrival and celebration. To the other, a Mountain Terrace and DJ zone for retreat and play. Together, those zones compress the rituals of chalet life - gathering by fire, lingering at the bar, slow afternoons on the terrace - into a single, layered atmosphere.

Design Influences: Alpine Architecture Meets 1970s Ski-Scene Glamour

Two parallel references sit behind the concept. 

The first is the architectural soul of traditional alpine buildings - timber beams, stone, the rhythm of materials that age beautifully. 

The second is the confident glamour of 1970s European ski culture - St Moritz, Cortina - that particular moment when alpine life met fashion, music and design. 

The lounge sits at the meeting point of those two worlds: heritage timber and stone alongside Amron’s mirror-polished water-ripple panels, Airborne’s Le Lhassa butterfly chairs as a true vintage form, and the silvered metal curtain that frames the entrance invented 100 years ago. 

I am also responding to a shift I have been observing across the studio’s chalet projects: clients are moving away from antlers, heavy pine and predictable tartans toward something more curated, more architectural, and designed for how these homes are actually lived in throughout the year.

Visitor Journey: From Entrance to Terrace

Arrival: The Silvered Metal Curtain

You arrive through a silvered, fur clad entrance - an Amron metal curtain that sets the 1970s ski-scene register before you have stepped fully inside. 

The Central Fireplace: Gravitational Pull

From there, the central Caleo fireplace becomes the gravitational pull of the main lounge room: sculptural in form, the sound of flame, warmth carrying across the lounge. 

Tactile Experiences Throughout

Underfoot, carpet meets reclaimed timber. Under hand, bouclé, sheepskin and leather upholstery crafted by Ben Whistler Blue Label. Above, layered lighting - pendants from Cameron Design House and Alabastro Italiano, Tom Dixon’s cloud-like Melt fixtures, Terzani’s sparkle chandelier -  designed for mood rather than illumination. 

To one side, the rhythm of the Bar & Dining Club. To the other, the Mountain Terrace opens outward with a DJ. Every surface has been considered for what it adds to atmosphere, not only for how it looks.

What was your design inspiration & influences?

Nature is my greatest source of inspiration, alongside the long history of floral decoration in interiors. I'm drawn to the endless variety of shapes, colours, and textures found in the natural world, and I love exploring how these elements can be translated into large-scale mural work.

Through layering materials, patterns, and processes, I build depth and texture within my designs. I want my murals to feel as though they have grown organically across a surface - playful, tactile, and full of life - transforming a space into something immersive and unexpected.

Artisan Collaborations: The Makers Behind the Design

I have been fortunate to work with a roster of makers I have long admired. The emotional and atmospheric elements that define the spaces are the bespoke bar by HUX, the bespoke room divider by USM, who are providing a sculptural modular screen and shelving piece that defines the spatial divisions, and Ebanisteria Marelli, whose Italian joinery mouldings thread through the bar, terrace and small lounges. At the centre, Caleo’s fireplace becomes the emotional heart of the space.

Lighting Design: Layered Illumination

The lighting is layered deliberately across several houses. Terzani contributes the Genesis sculpture, the Mizu pendant and Argent Mon Bijou at the entrance. Cameron Design House supplies the Pilvi cluster over the bar and the sculptural Vetta Pallo above the fireplace. Alabastro Italiano brings suspensions to the smaller lounges. Axolight contributes the Fairy crystal chandelier and Mountain View pendants on the terrace, and Tom Dixon’s Melt pendants and Cone floor lamps anchor the terrace.

Seating and Upholstery

The seating is by Ben Whistler Blue Label, who upholster the curved sofas, armchairs, poufs and bespoke banquettes in fabrics sponsored by the brands which I love and work with regularly: Dedar, Pierre Frey, Casamance and Romo. The wooden furniture comes from Van Rossum, RIVA, Rodam and Billiani who sponsor a variety of dining chairs across the bar and terrace.

Wallcoverings: Layered Storytelling

The wallcoverings tell their own layered story. Arte International provides three signature surfaces: Avenio leather from the Corium collection behind the bar, Les Cuirs Montage in Chestnut on the divider, and Kharga Moire 3 across the exterior façade. Andrew Martin supplies Regent Oak and Lumberjack timber wallpapers, House of Hackney brings Plantasia in tobacco behind the banquette, and Phillip Jeffries Aura Cove dresses the terrace walls. The curtains and softer wallcoverings come from Dedar, Casamance and Pierre Frey. Amron contributes both the silvered metal curtain at the entrance and the mirror-polished water-ripple panels on the terrace - deliberate 1970s ski-scene references.

Terrace Furniture and Vintage Elements

Outside on the terrace, Colours of Arley supplies a new product which we created together: the fabric deck chairs in a bespoke 3 colour stripe that is created specifically for my branded coloured lounge that nod to alpine winter & summer seating, Airborne contribute their Le Lhassa butterfly chairs as a true vintage form, and West Wing offer a stylish cozy corner sofa – a  final antique counterpoint are the vintage ski lifts. 

Each partnership has been chosen for the integrity of the maker and the integrity of the material, not the scale of the brand.

Materials and Suppliers: Honest Mountain Architecture

I am working with the honest, traditional materials of mountain architecture - wood, stone, glass and chrome - but adapted for a retro-modern atmosphere. Timber appears as reclaimed flooring, worn rather than new, and runs through Van Rossum’s sculptural wood furniture, Rodam’s Carreau and Campa tables, and Andrew Martin’s Regent Oak wallpaper at the bar. Stone reads through Arte International’s textured Kharga Moire 3 wallcovering on the exterior façade, rather than as cladding. Brushed steel and chrome - the ski-scene reference - appear in Amron’s mirror-polished water-ripple panels on the terrace and their silvered metal curtain at the entrance.

Against those harder surfaces sits softness: bouclé from Ben Whistler Blue Label across the curved seating and bespoke banquettes, sheepskin and shaggy carpet underfoot, leather wallcoverings from Arte’s Corium collection - Avenio - behind the bar, and Les Cuirs Montage in Chestnut across the divider. Alabaster lighting from Cameron Design House and Alabastro Italiano, alongside Terzani’s sparkle chandelier and Tom Dixon’s Melt fixtures, introduces a layered glow. Wallpapers from Andrew Martin (Lumberjack timber), House of Hackney (Plantasia in tobacco) and Phillip Jeffries (Aura Cove) bring pattern and tactility to the smaller zones, and curtains from Dedar, Casamance, Pierre Frey and Manufactori soften the architecture throughout.

The central Caleo fireplace draws the whole composition together. Every material has been chosen for how it feels under hand and how it will age — rather than for first-day impact.

About Claudia Dorsch: International Interior Designer

Claudia Dorsch is a London-based international interior designer specialising in luxury chalet design and high-end residential projects. Over the past five years, her studio has focused extensively on chalet design, developing a distinctive approach that reimagines alpine living for contemporary lifestyles.

Claudia's design philosophy centres on creating spaces where clients can "exhale"—environments that understand how to hold people through thoughtful material selection, spatial planning and atmospheric layering. Her work is characterised by respect for heritage combined with bold contemporary reinterpretation, often drawing on cultural references like 1970s European ski culture to create sophisticated, timeless interiors.

https://www.claudiainteriors.co.uk/