The Architects and Urban Designers announce new design for Lahofer Winery in the Moravian landscape, creating a space symbiotic with the surrounding nature of the vineyards. Encompassing the winemaking facility, the visitor center, tasting room and amphitheater will rest tactfully on the structure’s roof.
CHYBIK + KRISTOF ARCHITECTS & URBAN DESIGNERS unveil the new design for the expansion of the Lahofer Winery in the Czech Republic. Nestled in the Moravian countryside, known for its vineyards, the Lahofer Winery is a compelling fusion of tradition, nature and modern wine making practices. The winery has broken ground and is set to open in Spring 2020. The building consists of three interconnected structures varying in height, including a winemaking facility, the company’s administrative base, and a visitor center featuring a tasting room. An impressive undulant roof serves as the public amphitheater and will host concerts and cultural events for visitors and locals.
CHYBIK + KRISTOF respond to the architectural language of the Moravian landscape. Veering away from interfering with the landscape, the architects lighten the volume and aesthetic of the building, by dividing the space into three masses. The building echoes the natural slopes of the surrounding terrain most noticeably in the amphitheater’s incline. Aligning with the rhythm of the vine rows, the colonnade of arches creates perfect visual symmetry with nature.
The new visitor center is enclosed in a glass façade facing south, inviting abundant light and leaving only a thin barrier to the surrounding vines. The space includes a prominent tasting room and a barrique cellar made of wood, concrete, and glass. The archetypal winery shape is an homage to the contour’s traditionally used in Czech wineries. The tasting room is interconnected with the concave roof of the amphitheater, inhabiting the space under the exposed rib construction. The perpendicular intersection made of reinforced concrete ribs divides the arched spaces. Each module rises from a vineyard row and runs through the tasting room. The exposed structural elements guide the viewer’s gaze across the grapevines.
The two halls of varying height correspond to the production processes that take place within. The first, lower hall, centralizes the operations, wine-making production and employee facilities. The strip windows under the structure’s roof create an abundance of natural light. The second hall allows for operations that require lower temperatures – the wine-press, the cellar, and the wine store.
The varying heights of the spaces corresponding to the terrain create an alignment of the functional courtyards. While one courtyard serves as the operational area, centralizing logistic and production processes, the other holds the amphitheater, offering far-reaching landscape views.
The architectural design of the amphitheater engages visitors and the roof offers a panoramic outlook of the vineyard. It will be a community space dedicated to cultural events, such as grape harvest celebrations and theater performances. CHYBIK + KRISTOF designed the Lahofer Winery to serve the wineries functionality, while simultaneously creating a hub for the local community, visitors of the region and wine connoisseurs.
Describing the concept, Ondřej Chybík and Michal Krištof explain, “The vision of our design integrates the building into the landscape it rests on, immersing the architecture among the striking vine rows that cover the land. Additionally, we prioritized the visitor experience by allocating the roof as a public space, an amphitheater open to local and international visitors.”