Sky Villas Andreus: Contemporary Architecture and Material Continuity in the Alpine Landscape

Atlas Concorde’s Boost Icor stone-look porcelain tiles express the dialogue between architecture and nature at the Andreus Golf & Spa Resort’s Sky Villas, combining aesthetic appeal, seamless indoor-outdoor continuity and technical performance. Set amid the spectacular landscape of Val Passiria, near Merano, Andreus Golf & Spa Resort has expanded its hospitality offering with three exclusive Sky Villas, designed for a private, immersive stay in close contact with nature.

The project was designed by Archifaktur, an Austrian architecture studio specialising in high-end hotels, resorts and wellness spaces. The studio’s approach centres on bespoke solutions that bring together aesthetic quality, functionality and well-being in harmonious settings, with a consistent focus on the relationship between materials, spaces and their surroundings. This vision is reflected in the architecture of the Sky Villas, defined by contemporary volumes, bold geometries and expansive glazed façades opening onto the Alpine panorama. Bright, refined interiors lead onto spacious private terraces with panoramic pools and relaxation areas, creating a seamless connection between living spaces and the landscape.

In this setting, ceramic surfaces play a central role in defining the project’s architectural identity. Atlas Concorde’s Boost Icor collection was selected for all three villas in the Dust colour and large 120 × 120 cm format, for both indoor and outdoor flooring. Inspired by the natural elegance of limestone, Boost Icor reinterprets its appearance through richly textured surfaces, subtle colour variations and delicate shades. Dust, with its balanced palette of light greys and natural tones, creates bright, harmonious spaces that complement the timber roof structures, expansive glazing and colours of the mountain landscape.

Continuity between indoors and outdoors is one of the project’s defining features. Using the same collection, colour and format allows the interior flooring to extend visually onto the terraces, blurring architectural boundaries and enhancing the sense of space. Porcelain tiles thus provide a connecting element between living areas, outdoor lounges and panoramic pools, creating a cohesive design language.

For outdoor surfaces, the 20 mm Boost Icor Dust Outdoor version was selected for its suitability for Alpine weather conditions. Resistant to frost, temperature fluctuations and wear, porcelain tiles offer significant advantages over natural stone: their extremely low water absorption and reduced porosity provide greater stain resistance and make maintenance easier, without the need for periodic protective treatments. The slip-resistant properties of the outdoor surface, particularly important around swimming pools, further enhance the material’s technical performance. Boost Icor thus combines the appeal of stone with the durability and practicality of porcelain tiles, preserving the surfaces’ appearance over time while ensuring visual consistency between indoors and outdoors.

The Boost Icor collection was also selected for 20 suites at the resort, extending the use of Atlas Concorde surfaces to other areas of the property and reinforcing its cohesive aesthetic identity. The Andreus Sky Villas demonstrate how porcelain tiles can enhance contemporary hospitality architecture by bringing together expressive material qualities and technical performance. The project uses continuous surfaces to guide the transition between interior and exterior, allowing architecture and landscape to engage in a natural balance.