THE TRADITION OF WINE AND CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

The Petra winery is located in the Tuscan Maremma at San Lorenzo Alto, Suvereto (LI). The estate covers an area of 300 hectares in a beautifully rustic landscape dominated by olive groves that slope down to the Tyrrhenian Sea. The area is filled with history as is shown by the numerous archaeological findings, consisting in particular of wine amphorae. The initial project for Cantina Petra was conceived by businessman and wine producer Vittorio Moretti, and designed by architect Mario Botta. The aim was for a building that would highlight its context among vineyards and wines and at the same time embody the mystique of the work and lifestyle of those working there. Cantina Petra is the result of a perfect integration between the creativity of the architect, the construction process and a practical, well functioning estate.

 

 

 

 

 

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

 

 

 

Petra represents architecture at the service of the technological requirements of the wine producer and his need for expression. It is where the wine-making takes place and where wines are aged but it is also a place of encounter, where different traditions and experiences are compared; it is also a way of transmitting company values. This is architecture with a strong personality, yet that fits in perfectly with the landscape, the function it serves and lifestyle led within. The brief asked for something that would be modern and functional but respectful of tradition.

Particular attention was paid to its social and financial impact, with a model of the design being exhibited for six months in the council room of the Municipality to allow adequate time for thought and decision-making. This “cathedral to wine” covers a surface area of 8,000 m2. Its highly sculptural appearance consists of a stone cylinder dissected by a sloping plane running parallel to the hill. Either side are two wings with porticoed elements. A staircase cutting through the cylinder leads to an observation point. The huge ring rises up over cultivated fields surrounded by vegetation that changes in colour depending on the seasons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The main activities of the winery take place inside the cylindrical structure. In the centre are the rosette-shaped steel fermentation vats, while the upper floors serve as storage space for harvested grapes, crushing, production and inspetcion.
On the ground floor, beyond the central zone and area reserved for the oak casks used to age the wines, a long tunnel digs deep into the mountainside until it reaches a rocky wall where it opens out into an end room. This is used for gatherings, meditation even, and is far removed from the working areas near the entrance. Almost like an umbilical cord, the tunnel connects us up with Mother Earth.

 

 

 

TECHNOLOGY

Beneath the structure integrated with the landscape hides a high tech prefabricated modular winery. It was built by the construction division of the Moretti
group, who also designed the production lay-out. This “winery system” provides a new way of approaching
the design of buildings dug into the ground, with the twin purpose of support and restraint. By exploiting the static principle of the arch, the “vaulted”
elements reduce the thickness of the roofing to a minimum, while ensuring adequate support when the wine making-rooms are filled to capacity. To meet the variety of requirements of the assignment, the system was organised into structural modules that would offer great flexibility of space and architecture.
The central element, faced in stone slabs and set underground on three sides, uses a 6x6 module. Cantina Petra is an ideal combination between architectural design and prefab technology using concrete and lamellar wood. The modular concept integrates ideally with a series of elements especially designed and built for the cylindrical body of the building.