Le Pin, Pomerol, Bordeaux, France

The storehouse for wine barrels, the ‘Chai à barriques’, is entirely underground and is the heart of the building. This reduces the overall height of the building, which keeps its impact on the surroundings to a minimum. 

Wine production is carried on in the ‘Cuvier‘ on the ground floor, a functional area spanned by a vault of inclined roof planes. Light enters through windows at the corners. A separate tower houses a reception area, a small office and the vertical transport system for the barrels. The roof vault of the ‘Cuvier’ links up with this volume. This creates a covered outdoor area between them where grapes can be sorted at harvest time.