In Addition - Wine Cellars Schreckbichl

Wine Cellars in Schreckbichl In the last years, the wine cellar Schreckbichl has redefined its tradition to the present. The new principles are: the respect of the nature, a contemporary communication and sustainability. The project of bergmeisterwolf reinterprets these guiding principles and tries carefully to envelop the buildings of the 60ths. These buildings are an accumulation of different halls situated around a court. The dimension of the work, the complexity of the existing and in order to not interrupt the production the work is divided into phases. Each phase is characterised by a different theme. The first was dedicated to the façade. A game of opening elements evokes an optical variety, held together by the purity of the volume. In the second phase the theme was the curtain-wall facade. Black painted expanded metal panels border the court including the volume of oak. In the third phase the themes are: the square and the tower. The project proposes continuity between the open space and the tower through a continuous line, which begins at the entrance, incurs perimetrically the square and finally reaches vertically the tower. This landmark will contain the shop. The square has two functions: welcome the visitors and serve as public space for the population. 1. Phase: The existing façade of the winery „Kellerei Schreckbichl“ remains unaltered in its shape and its windowcases. A new structure will be placed in front of it at a distance of 50 cm – a structure of metal and wood which plays with spacings, openings, colours and shadows. The result is a 45 metre long and 9m high linear body, sophisticated in the selection of the materials and with a new representative atrium. The “new façade” consists of oak planks and steel panel-frames of red bordeaux color, now painted in black. These plates accentuate the window openings through their tilts and depths, focusing the views on production facilities, the entrance, offices and the reception. One of the cut-outs effectively even frames a section of the sky, since the new shell is raised above the level of the old roof. In contrast to the flat appearance of the previous façade, the differently sized openings produce a surprising and vivacious plasticity. The timber surfaces are inspired by the oak barrels, recreating a theme which adds a warm, inviting character to the building. 2. Phase: The main elements are the curtain-wall facade, few materials and the green project. Again the existing buildings weren’t changed in form. The project reinterprets the existing building as a layer, on which other layers can be laid. Through these layered facades the rich history of the winery is kept readable and therefore alive. The contemporary layer, the second facade, is made of metal mesh and enters into dialogue with the pre-existing through playfully changing mesh-widths, distance and heights. In order to integrate the façade of the first phase into the new concept, the steel panel-frames of the metal window cases where painted black, reducing the amount of used materials to only three: black steel, oak (first phase) and concrete. The third layer is represented by the green project. Within this part the geometry and the colour have the living presence of the plants, a dynamic deriving from the seasonal changes in nature itself. The plants overlay the metal structure and the pre-existing buildings in a polyphonic way and the green project is the first thing to catch a visitor’s eye coming to the vinery. A grand structure of black steel continues the visual line of the wooden facade (first phase)and lures visitors into the court. The structure consists of strong horizontal elements, and of thinner diagonal ones. The horizontal elements are hollow and filled with earth, serving as flower boxes for the plants which will progressively grow on the structure. There is also a variety of plants used: On the base wisteria and wine, on the first level grows hardy jasmine and on top the morning glory. The green of the plants will cover the structure and give it an ever changing look; chromatic alterations through the year let the “organic machine” become part of the landscape. Towards the street the intervention is kept very subtle. A metal-wall forms a small platform from which it’s possible to admire the surrounding landscape. The entrance to the shop, which is inside the existing building, is marked by a small baldachin and the subtle language is continued inside the shop: The walls are plastered with light grey cement, simple steel-framed shelves stand freely and the counter is made from un-planed oak-boards The curtain-wall facade starts from the court-entrance and is made from panels of metal and expanded metal mesh with two different opening- widths. These differences create a variation in opacity allowing a peephole-like look to the pre-existing layer. The differentiation in the panels (plate, narrow mesh, wide mesh) creates a hierarchy abstractly similar to a plant's hierarchy: metal plate – stem, narrow mesh – branch, wide mesh – leaf. The roof is a big element which is in dialog with the landscape. It is covered with photovoltaic elements and glass and contributes to the energetically balance of the winery. The “Mannschaftsraum” concludes the ensemble and contains the changing rooms for the workers as well as a small kitchen and a recreation room. The exterior is dominated by expanded metal mesh while the interior gives the feeling of a more private room, like a living room. The kitchen block is made of stainless steel, the table and banks of rough oak and the closets are hidden behind a polycarbonate panel. A big aperture in the facade opens the view towards a plane tree which will be placed in the center of the square. In combination with the “Mannschaftsraum”, the tree concludes the third layer and serves as an element of balance.