Details
Project Country: Switzerland
Brick: York Handmade Brick (EBOR Hunsingore Maxima 327x100x50mm CUT to form Slips of 327x100x25mm)
Architect: Drip & Drip
Brickwork Contractor: Latrapole Holding
About the project
LôDzè opened its doors in March 2025. It is situated 30 metres from the main square in Martigny and consists of two separate buildings around a central courtyard which is open to the public.
Above ground it comprises Borsari, a boutique hotel with 50 rooms and the Kitchen 180 (Lo Dze is exactly 180 km away from the very centre of the Roman cities of Lyon, Milan and Zürich), which services La Saucithèque bar, Le Cercle restaurant and Café Alphonse, the courtyard and terraces. Below ground Lo Dze features a vast Roman bathing experience, Les Bains Publics, in a space that was formerly Les Caves Orsat, a 19th Century winery.
The brick façade was chosen with the collaboration of the Cantonal Architect as the building sits in a tightly controlled historic conservation area. It was agreed that the extraordinary Roman baths below ground needly an equally magnificent counterpoint above ground. It is situated on the main street and evokes the town’s Roman heritage: choosing to apply without a mortal band was a choice that permitted the sense of the ancient, without falling into the trap of pastiche.
The owner explains:“I was looking for a brick that was handmade with the right colours and the right size. The massive nature of the architecture, one side of the street facade is windowless apart from a half-moon opening on the ground floor, meant that the brick had to be visually strong. Overall, it was a winning combination of colour, form, texture and cost.
“The result is superb. The exterior at once conveys the mass of the objects and the history of the town as well as the extraordinary material quality of the underground Roman Baths, Les Bains Publics. The bricks gave us that and a bonus to boot - a building that stands out from the pack; no one just walks by Lo Dze".
“We have used York Handmade’s pavers to complete the public areas in the project, denoting areas that are both for circulation and al fresco dining. The brick slips cover the buildings that sit on the main street side of the project, linking the building architecturally with its baths and the town's Roman heritage.”
He continues: “Martigny was an important Roman town, the last town to the north built by the legionary architects. It had three Roman bath houses. We have built the fourth. Interestingly, pottery and other remains from Roman Britain has been found in Martigny. The concept for the hotel was first developed over 10 years ago. Now that dream is a reality.”
