TRADITIONAL MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS IN A CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
Clos Pachem Wine Cellan in Gratallops, Spain
Harquitectes
The winery building is located in the small town of Gratallops, roughly one hundred kilometres west of Barcelona, and occupies an L-shaped lot. The building reinterprets an existing perimeter wall in a contemporary work of architecture built almost entirely in brick: a parallelepiped hosting spaces for fermenting wine and related activities is wrapped on different sides by a covered path that tracks the line of the existing wall. The depth of the main entrance attracts observers toward the interior of the building, where two faces are revealed: exposed brick inside and whitewash plaster on the exterior façade. A large opening to the south gives onto a sloping external path, covered by a series of terraces, offering views across the fermentation room, tasting rooms and stairs providing access to complementary activities or down into the cellar filled with wine barrels and bottles conserved at a constant temperature and humidity.