Norman Foster's intervention at the Dolder Grand is one of the more intellectually honest acts of architectural preservation in recent European hotel history: rather than disguising a contemporary addition behind historicist pastiche, he placed a pair of curved glass-and-steel wings alongside the original 1899 turretted building by Jacques Gros, letting the century of difference between them remain entirely visible. The CHF 440 million renovation, completed in 2008, brought the total to 173 rooms and suites spread across the fairy-tale Historicist original and the new arc-shaped structures that sweep around it on the Adlisberg hill above Zurich, their floor-to-ceiling glazing oriented to pull in panoramic views across the city and Lake Zurich beyond. The interiors, led by Foster + Partners, carry the same discipline into the guest rooms — dark-stained oak floors, ivory leather curved sofas anchored on circular aubergine rugs with wave-relief patterning, upholstered headboards set against full-height timber wall panels. The curved geometry of the new wings dictates room plans, with wraparound glazing giving suites the atmosphere of an observation deck suspended above the treeline. In the spa, a rough-cut Jura limestone wall stands beside a dark slate pool deck and floor-to-ceiling glass — raw geological material held in deliberate tension with the precision of the new build. The terrace dining, flanked by a long reflecting pool with candles at dusk, draws the curvilinear pavilion into conversation with the floodlit Victorian towers behind, the two buildings finally at ease with their unlikely partnership.

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