At Nuova cantina Bolzano, a cooperative uniting local wine growers, production will take place largely by gravity flow. The result is a highly energy-efficient structure in harmony with its surroundings.
Beautiful to look at, but above all perfectly integrated into its surroundings and eco-sustainable: Nuova cantina Bolzano is the urban winery of the city of Bolzano, bringing together the output of the city's most important producers and those from the surrounding area, all organised as a cooperative. The new structure, which will be ready next summer, will be built in the San Maurizio district and will be the largest underground building in the entire Alpine arc and the first cooperative winery to receive the CasaClima Wine certification, developed specifically to promote sustainable wine-making activities. Alongside the requirements for energy efficiency and building sustainability, particular attention will be paid to a low-environmental-impact production process capable of limiting the use of resources. An excellent example of sustainable architecture, a winery also conceived for the conscious visitor, who will be genuinely involved in the wine production process.
A winery well known in the area — and beyond — above all for its unique reserves of Lagrein, a highly regarded indigenous variety, Cantina Bolzano in Trentino-Alto Adige is set to become the Nuova cantina Bolzano thanks to a project by the architectural practice Dell'Agnolo-Kelderer. Although the opening is still a few months away, the genesis of the new structure has a history stretching back some time, to an international competition called by the client, which was won by the local firm Dell'Agnolo-Kelderer — perhaps precisely because they know the territory and the characteristics of the hillside on which the winery will stand so well. "The volume designed by the team," explains project designer engineer Kelderer, who is also a wine grower, "is partly hypogeal, it seems to 'emerge from the mountain' and appears wrapped in a vine leaf." A symbolic plant, but also an extraordinary communication tool. A distinctive and unique solution that will make Nuova cantina a "point of reference" throughout the entire Bolzano valley.
The stylised vine leaves covering the sides of the volume will be made from perforated bronze-coloured aluminium sheet. Beneath them will be a glass cladding that will allow light to reach the interior of the building, filtered through the leaves. During the day the outer shell of the building will also act as solar shading, while at night the light illuminates the winery, shining outwards through the vine leaves.
So that the winery integrates completely with the surrounding landscape, in addition to the hypogeal structure and the vine-leaf cladding, a vineyard will be planted on the building's sloping roof. Moreover, the client's requirement was to work and produce the wine largely by gravity flow, meaning the winery will become the only one to operate without pumps, resulting in a vertical arrangement of the spaces dedicated to the different stages of production. In this way, at Nuova cantina Bolzano, in the large underground volumes (cellars) kept at a constant temperature, the wine can be produced using far less energy.
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At the highest point of the building will be the grape reception area, while for reasons of noise protection and landscape preservation — given the building's proximity to a hospital and some historic farmsteads — the production zone will be underground. In the delivery area, which is also accessible to lorries, there will be tanks for grape intake and a loading area for the pomace. Opposite the must delivery zone, on the roof of the administrative building, there will be a panoramic terrace for visitors. Just below the must delivery area will be the zone dedicated to crushing, while on the lower floor there will be the processing areas with presses and filtering systems arranged on two levels. On a further level below, there will be the large fermentation cellar (divided into a red wine zone and a white wine zone). On the ground floor, at courtyard level, the final stage of the production cycle will take place, when the wine is bottled and stored.
Through the glazed façade of the production building, the slope of the land will be intercepted, thus defining the rear boundary of the courtyard. The wide lateral access ramps will bring the layout back to its classic symmetrical form, reminiscent of traditional country estates. The courtyard, set into the hillside, will be divided between the visitor area to the west and the loading/unloading zone to the east. In the area dedicated to visitors, a wooden barrel storage cellar, a barrique cellar and an exhibition cellar overlooking the courtyard will be positioned, visible from the outside thanks to the entirely glazed façade. In this way, tourists and buyers will be involved in the production process and will be able to see it, appreciating every step.