The Kinky Annex by Steiner Architecture

In the picturesque town of Zell am See, nestled within the Austrian Alps, a bold red structure emerges—playful, unorthodox, and unapologetically expressive. Known as The Kinky Annex, this private chalet extension breaks with Alpine tradition, offering a fresh architectural language rooted in color, contrast, and compositional audacity.

What appears at first as a rustic chalet in a familiar mountain palette quickly reveals itself to be something else entirely. That shade of red—intense, seductive, slightly cheeky—is no ordinary barn red. Technically, it’s RAL 3016, a deep, slightly orange-tinted red applied to wooden boards that gives the annex a striking identity. Whether it evokes burnt umber, Indian red, Windsor tan, or smoked salmon, the effect is the same: it demands attention.

And yet, for all its flamboyance, the annex remains oddly harmonious with its wooded context—thanks in part to the textured materiality of timber and the natural grain still visible beneath the color wash. It’s an architectural wink—folklore turned flirtatious.

Context and Contrast

The annex is physically and functionally attached to an old hotel, which the client’s family operates. But architecturally, it’s a compositional non sequitur. There are no traditional gables or chalet flourishes to be found here. Instead, it embraces its status as an outlier—a red appendage that asserts its independence from the main structure.

• The most notable gesture may be the modified Diocletian window set into the back façade. This arched form—half traditional, half foreign—hints at historical references while breaking regional norms.

• The double-height volume adds further drama, breaking with the horizontal emphasis common to Alpine architecture. In a landscape where flat roofs often spark bureaucratic resistance, the annex dares to experiment.

From the outside, it is both familiar and strange—a red timber cabin on the edge of the unexpected.

Radical Transparency and Material Dialogue

The chalet annex achieves a delicate balance between visual openness and material solidity. Three of its four facades are outfitted with oversized glazing, nearly spanning from floor to ceiling. These massive glass sheets allow uninterrupted views of the surrounding mountain landscape, turning the building into a panoramic viewing device.

• The wooden frames of these windows are also coated in RAL 3016, but in varying saturations—an exercise in tonal restraint that introduces subtle richness to the bold red hue.

• Polished concrete walls on the interior act as a counterpoint to the otherwise diaphanous façade, offering visual weight and textural contrast.

Privacy is managed through full-height roller shades that can be drawn across the windows, allowing the space to shift from transparent to opaque in an instant—adding a performative layer to the façade.

Inside the Red Box

Internally, the ground floor is conceived as a communal living and dining space. It is open and generous, with the cool precision of concrete balancing the warmth of the red-stained timber. The dramatic ceiling height and expansive glazing amplify the sense of openness, while the muted material palette allows the view to take center stage.

Above, a curved mezzanine creates a visual dialogue with the Diocletian window opposite. This level houses a compact home office, nestled into the upper volume and benefiting from the abundant natural light.

• A slender, white staircase pillar, semicircular in section, acts as a sculptural anchor—elegant, minimal, and just slightly eccentric.

• The annex itself contains no bedrooms, bathrooms, or kitchen. These remain in the original hotel structure, making the annex a dedicated space for gathering and retreat, distinct from domestic routines.

Challenging Alpine Expectations

In a region where architectural regulation often leans toward the conservative, The Kinky Annex is a quiet but confident act of rebellion. It doesn’t ignore context—it reinterprets it. The use of traditional materials (wood, concrete, glass) is familiar, but their treatment and composition are anything but conventional.

Color becomes the project’s defining statement—not just decorative, but conceptual. RAL 3016 transforms the structure into a kind of inhabitable sculpture, a red monolith that engages with the landscape and redefines how a chalet can look and feel.

Conclusion: A Bold Footnote in the Alps

The Kinky Annex is more than an architectural curiosity; it’s a statement about reinterpretation, play, and spatial storytelling. In its crimson timber skin and assertive glass façades, it dares to ask: what if Alpine architecture were less reverent and more radical? The result is a building that celebrates its setting not by disappearing into it, but by standing out—joyfully, vividly, and kinkily.

Photography: Florian Holzherr