The sprawling topography of the Portuguese landscape provided the shape of this restaurant, guest house and wine showroom by architecture studio Carvalho Araújo (+ slideshow).
Sited just outside the town of Passos do Silgueiros, the building was designed by Carvalho Araújo for Portuguese wine brand Quinta de Lemos as a place where critics and customers can sample and critique different vintages.
Glass walls angle back and forth to give the concrete building its winding plan, which nestles closely to the rugged forms of the rocky hillside.
"The building's drawing is developed starting from the topography, based in contour lines," said the architects. "It defines an extensive course that represents the dimension of the territory on which it is placed".
Visitors arrive at the building after traversing a winding pathway down from the road. Upon entering, they can either head into a large dining room, or make their way to one of three guest bedrooms.
The wine showroom is positioned just beyond, past a private indoor swimming pool that offers far-stretching views across the vineyards and hills.
A pair of long staircases tucked behind the building lead up onto the roof, which is covered with paving slabs and functions as a large viewing platform.
"The building is drawn by the land," added the architects. "Its openings and orientation respect the main points of view over the vineyard, control of natural light and the discretion that is intended."
Portuguese studio Carvalho Araújo also recently converted an old military police headquarters into an art and culture centre in Braga.
We also recently published a guest house at the Cloudy Bay winery in New Zealand and have previously featured an Italian winery with huge terracotta vaults and an asterisk-shaped restaurant and winery in China.
See more wineries on Dezeen »
See more architecture in Portugal »
Photography is by Hugo Carvalho Araújo.
Here's a project description from the architects:
De Lemos
Answering the request for the conception and design for a gourmet restaurant, we developed the project with the idea of a guest house, private equipment as complement of the first. The group intends to relate to the wine production, and to frame this investment in a global brand strategy, instead of an isolated act in the territory.
The guest house doesn't have a formal reception; the services create an intimate atmosphere, family like and exclusive. The bedroom is not just the private domain; it includes other spaces of social character, which makes this equipment different from the usual offer of temporary lodging. The bedroom is really a small house.
The association established with the wine production justifies the restaurant. It includes spaces for wine proofs, and a reserved area to discussion, analysis and wine critic, suggesting a flexible drawing for the space in all these uses.
The building's drawing is developed starting from the topography, based in contour lines, as a reference to the platforms and the distant association that unites them in time, characteristic of wine's production especially in the Douro and Dão region.
It defines an extensive course that represents the dimension of the territory on which is placed and is built in a level quota, being the direct result of the topography.
The building is drawn by the land, and its openings, orientations and internal definition of the program respect the main points of view over the vineyard, control of natural light and the discretion that is intended for the group, in spite of its apparent dimension.
The attractive point where the building is located creates a tension between the existent building and the new construction, being constituted as two poles, forcing the accomplishment of a course to relate them. The implantation of the new construction is just the continuity of that course; a drawing in the landscape, a built course leaning towards the beauty of the linear rhythm of the vineyards.
Architecture: Carvalho Araújo, Arquitectura e Design
Team: José Manuel Carvalho Araújo, Joel Moniz, Sandra Ferreira, Emanuel de Sousa, Ana Vilar, André Santos, Liliana Costa, Nuno Vieira, Pedro Mendes, Carlos Santos, José João Santos, Leandro Silva
Client: Celso de Lemos Esteves
Date: 2007 - 2012
Location: Passos do Silgueiros, 3500-541, Viseu, Portugal
Landscape: JBJC - João Bicho e Joana Carneiro, Arquitectura Paisagista, Lda Arquitectura de
Interior Architecture: Nini Andrade Silva
Engineering, management and supervision: Eng.o Carlos Pires
Contractor: Eduardo Oliveira Irmãos, Lda