Cascina Elena Winery
CASCINA ELENA WINERY
Brh+
ARCHITECTS
Brh+
PHOTOS
Aldo Amoretti Photography
AREA
0 Sqft - 1000 Sqft
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2022
LOCATION
Rocchetta Belbo, Italy
TYPE
Industrial › Winery
The project of a winery producing organic wine presents a tangible conscious architecture, the result of careful study and passionate design that have the ambitious goal of generating a real, positive impact on the environment.
The aim of the project is to find architectural and structural solutions that minimize the impact on the landscape by limiting excavations and landfills. Located on a hilly terrain, the building is developed mainly horizontally following the contour lines of the landscape by settling on a natural terrace close to an existing escarpment.
With its simple geometric forms, the building expresses an original reinterpretation of vernacular architecture that eliminates all superfluous decoration to give form and expression to the identity of the wine produced and the care devoted to the agricultural practices used to obtain it.
The quality of the architectural detail alludes to the craftsmanship of wine production. The expressive character of the land determines the choice of colors of the building envelope that represents the contact and exchange between architecture and nature.
The palette in shades of brown recalls the colors of the earth, vine, and must and helps to enhance the identity of the place.
The choice of building materials was made in such a way as to favor the selection of local and environmentally sustainable products, preferring solutions that reduce the need for maintenance and ensure, in a possible future demolition of the building, the recovery and recycling of as much building material as possible, limits the footprint left by the building.
The construction system consists of a prefabricated steel frame that can be easily disassembled and is fully recyclable.
The construction system consists of a prefabricated steel frame that can be easily disassembled and is fully recyclable.This resulted in a significant reduction in construction time, allowing the building to be completed in eight months.
The façade clad in light-brown terracotta tiles with a horizontal course blends the building into the natural environment characterized by the typical layered texture sedimentary rock conformation.
The choice of a clay cladding material with high density characteristics ensures high thermal phase shifting performance by increasing inertia with attenuation of high temperatures inside the building in the summer period.
Energy requirements for air conditioning of the cellar are minimized by taking advantage of the thermal inertia of the existing soil close to which the building is located, and by dissipating heat from solar radiation through the ventilated wall system used in the facade and roof. The insulation materials are all naturally derived: wood fiber, hemp and cork panels.
Energy production derived from renewable sources is provided by photovoltaic panels on the flat roof, and water requirements are reduced through rainwater recycling.
The design details of the building's functional areas serve to optimize the workflow of the wine production process while respecting the needs of those using the environments.
The functional areas dedicated to each activity (grape receiving, crushing, fermentation, winemaking development, bottling, storage, tasting, packaging and shipping) create a healthy, ventilated work environment of indirect natural light, with the goal of saving energy while maintaining adequate environmental comfort.
The tasting room, characterized by a large window, visually connects the building to the surrounding landscape and vineyards.Although the visitor is in an interior space, he or she has a full view of the natural terrain that evokes emotions that predispose to tasting the wine produced there.
