AIA UK Building Tour Series 2023 - Le Dôme Winery by Foster + Partners
© Nigel Young / Foster + Partners
This year’s series is once again inspired by the exceptional projects which were recognised at the AIA UK 2022 Excellence in Design Awards. Join us for a virtual tour of Le Dôme Winery by Foster + Partners, a winner in the Professional - Medium Projects category.
When: Thursday 7 September 2023 @ 18:30 (UK time)
Where: Online
CES Credits - Estimated 1.5 LU for AIA Members
Speaker
Pablo Urango Lillo, BArch, MArch, Senior Partner at Foster + Partners
Description
Nestled in the rolling hills of Bordeaux, the new Le Dôme winery in Saint-Émilion aims to blend seamlessly with the UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape of the region with a state-of-the-art facility for the internationally renowned wine, Le Dôme. The form of the building is rooted in a desire to create a structure that simultaneously looks both inwards and outwards, providing an efficient space for wine production, while engaging in dialogue with the surrounding landscape.
Visitors approach the winery along a tree-lined avenue, at the end of which is a circular-plan building. A combination of two ramps – one external to emphasise the relationship with the site and the other internal, allowing the visitor to walk through the different stages of the wine process – gives the new building its spatial definition. Both ramps lead up to a gallery on the upper level which forms the social heart of the building with tasting tables, an elegant wine bar and entertainment spaces – all wrapped by 360-degree views of the adjoining vineyards. A circular atrium allows people to look down onto the wine production and storage spaces below, providing a holistic and unique experience for visitors.
The 40-metre diameter timber roof is a unique reciprocal structure consisting of mutually supporting sloping beams that spans over large column-free space. The structure naturally creates a 6-metre-wide oculus at its centre, which allows daylight to flood the upper level. The roof is clad with recycled local terracotta tiles, while the base of the building – made with concrete using aggregate from the region – is covered with timber slats and partially buried into the ground to reduce its visual impact on the terrain and increase thermal mass performance. The building to reinforces the landscape by creating a hill-like form that echoes the gentle slopes that surround it.
Speaker Bio
Pablo Urango Lillo is co-director and senior partner in Madrid. He studied architecture at The Catholic University of America, Washington DC, graduating in 1999. And obtained a Master of Architectural Design at The Bartlett School of Architecture in 2000. Since joining Foster + Partners in 2007, he has been involved in a wide range of international projects.
Inspired by an interest for cultural heritage, he worked on Chateau Margaux, the Vatican Chapel at the Gardens of San Giorgio Maggiore and Le Dome winery. He is currently involved in the construction of Hall of Realms at Prado Museum in Madrid and Fine Arts Museum in Bilbao. Most recently he completed a transformative office building in Madrid. OMBU is an exemplary sustainable retrofit of a historic industrial building; presented at COP 26 it is one of most sustainable projects by Foster + Partners.