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Cantina su’ entu

Mario Casciu e Francesca Rango Architetti

Cantina su’ entu
By Francesco Pagliari -

The decision to start farming again - vineyards, in this case - on this plot in the central, southern Sardinian province of Medio Campidano necessitated the construction of suitable wine-making facilities. The original structure, a traditional L-shaped building, now houses some of the wine-making equipment, staff change rooms, a freshwater tank, space to store farm equipment and an area for housing for the security personnel. The complex rises on a ridge, emphasising the centrality of the relationship between architecture and the surrounding landscape. The winery deliberately recalls the historical processes that helped define this land and, even goes that step further, to become complicit in them, a coherent part of this "evolution". It is another element and place in this materially and culturally productive land. The complex uses interconnected structures, following the line of the ridge to expand gently outwards in a mix of whitewashed and solid stone walls that blend seamlessly into the landscape.
The new addition is based on the concept of a central courtyard, with the south-eastern side set against and connected to the existing building. One- and two-storey buildings face onto this courtyard and are generally defined by function. There is also a basement level, for the barrique cellar, which lies at a different angle to the aboveground plan. The building housing the fermentation vats is double height, with visible glulam beams, and it is located on the west side. It has very few windows and a solid outer cladding in local stone that makes the walls even thicker. The result is a crisp volume that provides the ideal temperature and humidity for wine fermentation, especially as the walls are slow to heat up or cool down. In the courtyard, a cantilever roof provides some protection from the sun. A landing acts as a connection to the space where the vats are housed, accessible via metal gangways, and to the upper level of the two-storey south-facing building, home to offices and a meeting room. A stainless steel staircase with a solid three-step base provides access to the bottling area below, which opens onto the vat room, and gives the area a sense of dynamism.  
The one-storey building, facing north-west, has a hall for tasting sessions, sales and events. Here, large glazed sections open onto the courtyard and the surrounding landscape, creating a room with good natural light that is visibly dominated by the glulam beams. The landscape becomes the subject of an osmotic exchange as it penetrates and becomes part of the visitor areas, while the indoor space spreads out towards the distant horizon. An outdoor terrace dominated by the concrete trusses of a sizeable pergola mediates this exchange, creating a poetic allusion to the machinery used inside to make wine.
Francesco Pagliari

 

Location: Saluri, Italia
Client: Cantine Su’Entu
Completion: 2015
Gross Floor Area: 2,400 m2
Architects: Mario Casciu Francesca Rango architetti
Design Team: Michele Ariu, Marco Basciu, Sara Sanna
Contractor: Pellegrini

Consultants
Structural: Corrado Striano (Final Design), Mediapolis engineering (Working Plan)
Technical Systems: Oenò Italia, Gattermayer

Suppliers
Windows: Metra
Insulation: Dow
Infill: Poroton

Flooring: Marazzi

Photography: © Mario Casciu, Antonio Saba

 

Francesca Rango | Mario Casciu Architetti
Mario Casciu (born 1980 in Cagliari) and Francesca Rango (born 1980 in Castrovillari) attended the Rome Tre Faculty of Architecture, also spending a period at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago. Both graduated in 2005, with their theses dealing with the informal use of public space, under supervisors Francesco Cellini, Giovanni Caudo, and Francesco Careri. In Rome, they came in contact with the Stalker architecture collective and attended the Master Architecture | Storia | Progetto course, chaired by Mario Manieri Elia.
After a stint at a number of small architectural firms in Italy, they moved to the Netherlands, where Mario worked with Urbain Affair and Francesca with ZUS (Zones Urbaines Sensibles) in Rotterdam.
They set up their practice in Sardinia in 2009, handling projects of various sizes and continuing their academic and independent research.
They have participated in several competitions, focusing especially on the relationship between architecture and the city, and architecture and land use. Meanwhile, Francesca received her doctorate in Architecture and Planning at the Alghero Faculty of Architecture.
Their projects include the premises of winemaker Cantina Su’entu (winner of La Ceramica ed il Progetto 2015, Confindustria Ceramiche), a residential building in Sanluri, and Villa Coluccia in Martano, Lecce. In Cagliari, they worked on the design of the Parco del Padiglione del Sale (2015).

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