A rock hanging from the ceiling, a neon mountain range and stark red walls are some of the quirks inside new Zurich restaurant Saltz, designed by artist Rolf Sachs.

Other features in the 250 sq m bar and restaurant, which opened last week, include a wall of salt, a ladder that doubles as a newspaper stand and chairs designed by Eero Saarinen and Jean Prouvé.

Saltz is part of the Dolder Grand Hotel, a late 19th-century building that was revamped by Foster + Partners in 2008.

‘The restaurant in a hotel is always a difficult thing,’ Sachs told Dezeen. ‘They came to me because they wanted something different, otherwise they would’ve gone to a decorator.’

For the design, Sachs drew inspiration from Switzerland. The red room, for example, adopts the colour palette of the Swiss flag while the lighting on the wall resembles the silhouette of the country’s mountainous landscape.

‘Everything has something to do with Switzerland, in a subtle way,’ he added. ‘I had to be careful that it didn’t get cheesy.’

Pun intended, we think…