Azalea Springs Winery

In Architecture

Posted: Aug 6th, 2009 / Last Edited: Jun 1st, 2010 Print

Description

Azalea Springs Winery takes cues from the art of wine making and inspiration from the landscape to develop a structure whose form and materials meld with the natural topography of the vineyard.

By embedding the winery in the hillside and integrating the grape delivery roadway into the roof of the building, maximum advantage is made of the sloping site to facilitate the gravity feed method. This method, which gently moves wine from vine to crusher to fermentation tank to bottle, avoids the use of disruptive mechanical pumps and ensures the highest quality wine. The rear placement and integration of building and road reduces the incidence of aural and visual contamination from truck and car traffic while also allowing for unobstructed views to the fields of grapes. The linear continuity of movement across the landscape, from highway to winery to residence is a literal expression of the simple, linear fluidity of the vinification process.

Cor-ten, with its physical sensitivity to its climatic environment, is used as cladding material on the winery’s façade in reference to the way in which a wine’s qualities are shaped by its terroir – the elusive effect of the regional environment on the wine. The monochromatic application of this material serves as a transitional element between the low grape vines in the field and the tall firs on the hill behind the building.
Azalea Springs Winery takes cues from the art of wine making and inspiration from the landscape to develop a structure whose form and materials meld with the natural topography of the vineyard.

By embedding the winery in the hillside and integrating the grape delivery roadway into the roof of the building, maximum advantage is made of the sloping site to facilitate the gravity feed method. This method, which gently moves wine from vine to crusher to fermentation tank to bottle, avoids the use of disruptive mechanical pumps and ensures the highest quality wine. The rear placement and integration of building and road reduces the incidence of aural and visual contamination from truck and car traffic while also allowing for unobstructed views to the fields of grapes. The linear continuity of movement across the landscape, from highway to winery to residence is a literal expression of the simple, linear fluidity of the vinification process.

Cor-ten, with its physical sensitivity to its climatic environment, is used as cladding material on the winery’s façade in reference to the way in which a wine’s qualities are shaped by its terroir – the elusive effect of the regional environment on the wine. The monochromatic application of this material serves as a transitional element between the low grape vines in the field and the tall firs on the hill behind the building.
Less -