Esthetics, Comfort, and Health-Enhancing Materials

By Editorial Staff - 1 October 2024
Diasen has participated in the project

Unesco World Heritage site Pico Island in the Azores boasts a unique natural and human-modified landscape of lush vineyards alternating with small, dry-stone walled enclosures. Against this backdrop, a redevelopment project combines winery, residence, and hotel functions. Designed by SAMI-arquitectos in collaboration with DRDH-architects, Adega Pico’s essential, geometric volume blends harmoniously into the surroundings. Picked out against the intense blue of the ocean, the building is made of materials chosen meticulously to evoke continuity with the landscape. In a hillside location, the structure conforms with the surrounding steep terrain, on which lava rock visually echoes dry-stone-walled cultivated areas. Anchored firmly in this volcanic, wind-swept landscape, the architects’ design, inspired by climate-related challenges, specific vine-growing requirements, and the evolving dynamics of wine-making and preservation, ensures that the building looms up out of the surrounding terrain. Estetica, comfort e salubrità dei materiali - © Francisco Nogueira, courtesy SAMI-arquitectos

Diasen coatings were applied inside the building to help preserve air quality. The architecture gradually unfolds along a pathway, enabling visitors to interact with a series of distinct spaces, some dedicated to wine, others designed for guests. Production areas feature barrel rooms, a storage space for tanks, and a tasting room that opens onto a linear terrace characterized by neutral concrete hues. Dwellings for the owners and five guest rooms were built beneath this area. Mirroring the dualism of nature and a built environment characteristic of the surrounding landscape, the façade esthetically contrasts natural and artificial materials. Inside the building, the essential textures of white plaster unify common areas, dining and tasting rooms, and the kitchens. To a large extent, ceilings are coated in Diathonite Acoustix+ biophilic mortar, a material engineered to provide acoustic protection and, enhancing thermal comfort and air quality, optimize the thermo-hygrometric conditions in these spaces. Deployment of Diasen solutions is crucial to maintaining correct temperatures and humidity control, vital not just for personal comfort but to ensure that the wine is maintained as required. The successfully completed project won an RIBA International Award, an architectural accolade from the Royal Institute of British Architects.