Luca Aureggi and Maurizio Condoluci from Westway Architects have revamped the Santa Margherita Winery in Fossalta di Portogruaro (Venice province). The work focused on a combination of functional rationalisation and recladding to return a sense of formal continuity to three independent buildings used for storage, wine making and as administrative offices. VMZINC’s zinc titanium cladding was used for the sheltering and facades, bringing uniformity and redefining the appearance of the complex. The storage area is characterised by a large canopy roof, with an overhanging section, supported by metal beams and pillars. The front of this building leads onto the wine making building, where a glazed section has thin steel pillars that frame the large stainless steel tanks inside. Material is the word that best summarises the front of the adjacent cellar, where zinc titanium panels clad the facade, playing with colour nuances as the Pigmento Red Earth finish (a direct reference to the wine being made and stored inside) alternates with Quartz-Zinc inserts. The admin block stands back from the line of the other buildings, so the link involves a right angle. The zinc titanium clad wall turns sharply inward, creating a vast covered area fronting the facade. Here, opaqueness and transparency are once again at play as a glazed wall is the defining feature, beyond which 2,000 bottles are stacked flat with backlighting. The symbolism is clear as the bottles have moved from being the “product being manufactured” to a design element. The adjacent facade of the office building is divided horizontally by the shelter that juts out providing cover for the ground floor level. Below this, the cladding is the Pigmento Red Earth colour, while above the panels are Quartz-Zinc. In both sections the panels are placed vertically. To adapt to the profile of the building behind, this section of the front is moulded and indented around the windows. The result is large splays above and below the windows that optimise natural light. The shelter at ground-floor level is the third section in a shelter and roofing system that runs right across these three buildings. The purpose is not only to provide a defining element, but also to ensure people can move between the buildings - from the storage and production areas to the offices - with ease in nearly all weather conditions.
VMZINC
Umicore Building Products Italia
Via Riccardo Lombardi, 19/16
I - 20153 Milano
Tel. +39 02 4799821
Fax +39 02 47998229
www.vmzinc.it