Krampulz Meyer Architekten’s Kitz Hotel Evokes the Forests of Southwestern Germany
After studying at the University of Stuttgart in Germany, architects Benjamin Krampulz and Michael Meyer each formed their own firm. Six years later, they entered a design competition together and won, thus launching Krampulz Meyer Architekten. Since, the firm has completed the Kitz, a boutique hotel in Metzingen, the southwestern city known throughout Germany for its 70-plus clothing outlet stores.
The 12,000-square-foot property with just 23 guest rooms and suites was erected to serve the shoppers flooding the area every weekend as well as weekday business travelers (Hugo Boss is among the corporations headquartered in Metzingen). It’s also the sister property of the Achtender, the client’s other hotel with an antler logo that’s located down the street. Achtender is the German word for stag, and kitz is fawn; both monikers are a nod to the region’s game-heavy culinary traditions. “But it’s not literal,” Krampulz explains. “It’s about the colors and atmosphere,” Meyer adds.
Witness the exterior of the Kitz, its emerald bricks and stucco meant to evoke the nearby forests. Inside, a lobby wall boasts foliage-patterned wall covering, hunter-green tiles appoint the café, and rustic birch panels the suites.
After the Kitz, Krampulz and Meyer dissolved the firm to work separately again. But the change has to do with geography—Krampulz has moved to Vevey, Switzerland, and established Fesselet Krampulz Architectes, while Meyer, still in Stuttgart, has launched Meyer Architekten—rather than creative differences. In fact, the two are currently collaborating on a friend’s home back in Metzingen.
