Architect Gabriele Pinca, founder of the Ubik architecture studio, designed the new wine cellar IL Quinto on the hills of Magliano in Toscana, a small village in the province of Grosseto. Its architecture is intended to enter into mimesis with the landscape and to be discovered little by little as one crosses the estate that hosts it, eschewing any monumental attempt.
Through careful study of the landscape, the winery has been positioned to maximize its integration into the countryside, while reducing excavations. Indeed, its volume fits into the existing road network by rejoining the various routes at different levels, avoiding the construction of new roads, in the awareness that in the area of landscape these elements can be more impactful than buildings.
The new architecture of the winery is generated through the lines of the existing countryside. An idea that the visitor can clearly read in the metal ribbons that characterise the cellar, which change meaning as they flow, transforming from road to wall, from wall to roof, until they merge back into the farm road network.
When we arrive at the estate we are surrounded by the green countryside of the Maremma and the view opens up to the Argentario promontory. What appears to be one hill among others, is the entrance to the cellar that rises from the ground. Its façade, made of stone from the same excavations and Corten elements, blends in with the colours of the surrounding countryside. This architectural choice underlines the quest for sustainable solutions that do not end with technical and technological elements but rather include concepts for the use and reuse of local materials and building traditions.
Walking through the vineyards of the estate, we see the elevation of the building that seems to embrace the lines of the rows of vines. The green roofs have been designed to ensure adequate thickness to plant local shrubs and create a roof of flowers.
Once through the entrance, the reception and tasting room open their large windows onto the countryside.
The lines inside are sharp and clean, aimed at enhancing the texture and grain of the selected materials, such as wood, stone and exposed concrete.
From the entrance, a staircase flanked by a stone wall leads to the lower level, where we find the barrique cellar, with exposed concrete walls and a red resin floor. The staircase brings in light that changes throughout the day, creating ever-changing atmospheres.
From here we descend to the last level via the metal staircase that takes us from a scenic place like the barrique cellar to a more technical and working place like the vat room.
These rooms are characterized, like the previous ones, by the concrete on the walls and ceiling and the red resin on the floor, where the steel of the vats and the large windows give us a work space that does not lose its charm and maintains contact with the countryside.
The flows are intended to leave the levels of the fermentation room, the barrel cellar and the outdoor areas easily manageable and usable for the grape harvest and processing phases, allowing the grapes to fall by gravity through hatches.
