Located on a hillside, Cascina Elena Winery in BRH+'s project develops mainly horizontally following the contour lines of the landscape, settling in 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
Cascina Elena Winery. A new sustainable architecture in Alta Langa
From the high sensitivity of the architects to the soul of the sites on which they are called to intervene comes Cascina Elena: an eco-sustainable winery building whose impact on the precious Alta Langa landscape in which it is immersed is minimized thanks to the design solutions implemented
The project's choice of colors for the winery 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. Building materials were chosen to favor the selection of local and environmentally sustainable products, preferring solutions that reduce the need for maintenance and ensure the recovery and recycling of as much construction material as possible in the event of demolition, limiting the ecological footprint of this architecture
The design details of Cascina Elena's functional areas serve to optimize the workflow of the wine production process while respecting the needs of those who use the environments. The functional areas dedicated to each activity (grape reception, crushing, fermentation, enological 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. The visitor even from inside the winery has a complete view of the territory that evokes emotions that predispose to the tasting of the wine produced in those places
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