Spaces
Hospitality, interior design and spatial experience
WagonLounge
We designed the interior of a train carriage in Switzerland, transforming it into an alpine-inspired lounge bar with a warm, refined and contemporary atmosphere developed through spatial precision and advanced 3D visualisation.
Client
R.L.
Year
2016
Sector
Hospitality, interior design and spatial experience
Location
Switzerland
Categories
Services
Context and challenge
The project required intervening in a very particular spatial container: the interior of a train carriage, with a predefined geometry, an original structure that had to be respected with millimetric precision and clear constraints in width, circulation and hierarchy of use. It was not simply about decorating a singular space, but about building a coherent experience inside an existing envelope, where every element had to feel as if it had belonged to the carriage from the very beginning.
The layers of the challenge
The challenge unfolded across several simultaneous fronts: transforming a linear and necessarily contained space into a warm and memorable experience; balancing retro references and contemporary codes without falling into pastiche; introducing warm and noble materials without overloading the atmosphere; reinforcing a sense of spaciousness within a narrow envelope; and making light, textures, furniture and decoration function as one continuous narrative.
Strategic approach
We conceived Wagon Lounge as a hospitality interior with an alpine soul, where tradition, warmth and refinement needed to coexist with a contemporary reading. The intention was not to recreate a themed set, but to reinterpret certain codes from the mountain world — skiing, wood, leather, treated metal — through carefully controlled materiality and an atmosphere of understated luxury.
The concept: tradition reinterpreted
The direction of the project emerged from four fundamental ideas: respecting the original structure of the carriage as the real basis for the entire design; building a warm and enveloping atmosphere through natural materials and controlled light; introducing references from alpine imagery with a more sophisticated and contemporary reading; and organising the space into different zones of use without breaking the continuity of the whole.
One space, multiple readings
The carriage had to work at different speeds: as an active bar, a conversation space and a more relaxed, enveloping lounge area. Each zone needed to have its own character without disrupting the coherence of the overall narrative.
Scope of work
Spatial concept and atmosphere
- definition of the overall interior concept
- contemporary interpretation of alpine and railway imagery
- functional organisation of zones inside the carriage
- construction of the material and sensory narrative of the space
Bar and main elements
- main bar design with beige limestone finish
- glazed bar front to lighten the volume and expand the spatial perception
- integration of the project’s material language into the structuring pieces
Furniture and detail
- chair design with aged, saline-character wood and cowhide seats
- bottle racks with fronts in the same treated wood as the chairs
- embedded LED lighting in bottle racks and support elements
- cylindrical wooden tables with integrated LED lighting
- social area with stools and work tables
- lounge area with more comfortable and enveloping seating
Materiality and decorative resources
- incorporation of antique wooden skis as a resource for warmth and alpine memory
- lighting fixtures designed from treated metal skier helmets used as decorative pieces
- use of natural hides as rugs to reinforce comfort, texture and atmosphere
- selection of materials with tactility, depth and warm presence
3D modelling and visualisation
- precise modelling of the carriage while fully respecting its original structure
- detailed spatial reconstruction to validate proportions and circulation
- project development in 3D Studio Max
- advanced lighting and final renders with V-Ray as the visualisation engine
Visual development
The visual strength of the project lies in the way memory, sophistication and precision are combined. Old wood, beige limestone, natural leather, treated metal and embedded lighting build an atmosphere that feels warm and exclusive without becoming rigid. The space does not rely on excess, but on a very controlled selection of elements with their own expressive weight.
The antique wooden skis establish a direct link with tradition and reinforce the mountain imagery without becoming obvious. The lighting fixtures created from metal skier helmets introduce a singular object layer, turning each light into a cultural reference handled with judgement. The bar, with its stone presence and glazed front, becomes one of the visual axes of the project, also helping the carriage breathe better and feel more spacious than it actually is.
System, replicability and depth
Although it is a singular project, Wagon Lounge demanded a highly systemic reading. The value did not lie in a sum of isolated objects, but in how each decision reinforced all the others: wood dialogues with hide, stone with glass, light with metal, and all of it with the geometry of the carriage, which acts as the structural bone behind every decision.
Three levels of depth
The project demonstrates rigour across three simultaneous dimensions: spatial precision, by working from the real structure of the carriage and respecting its original measurements; atmospheric coherence, by maintaining one logic of materiality, tone and light from one end of the space to the other; and visualisation capability, by using 3D not merely as a presentation tool, but as a real design instrument to define how each corner should feel before any construction decision was made.
3D Studio Max and V-Ray
The project was developed entirely in 3D Studio Max, with modelling that accurately reconstructed the geometry of the carriage before any intervention. Advanced lighting and the V-Ray render engine allowed us to explore atmosphere, materials and the presence of light under conditions very close to reality, turning visualisation into a validation tool as rigorous as any technical drawing.
Result and transformation
The result was an interior with its own personality, capable of turning a railway carriage into a warm, refined and charming hospitality experience. The transformation did not rely on grand gestures, but on a very careful reading of the existing structure and a material selection that brought understated luxury, warmth and a strong sense of authenticity.
The transformation translated into:
a warmer, more sophisticated and more memorable atmosphere
an improved sense of spaciousness within a necessarily contained space
coherent integration between alpine tradition and contemporary design
a spatial experience with its own identity and clearly defined character
high-level 3D visualisation to validate atmosphere, light and materiality with real precision
Strategic reading
Wagon Lounge shows that the most attractive interior design does not emerge from decorative excess, but from a precise reading of space, materiality and atmosphere. When tradition is interpreted with judgement and 3D visualisation is used as a real project tool — not as a presentation resource — the result is not only a beautiful image: it is a spatial experience with intent, coherence and character. The difference between a space that makes an impact and one that simply decorates lies in whether the designer truly understands what sits beneath every decision.
More projects
