Distinct View. A Contemporary Winery in Quinta de Subserra

Intervening in Quintas de Recreio, is to intervene in architectural heritage, in history, memories, it is crucial to understand the layers that shape them over time. How they evolved over the centuries and how they can evolve in the future in a way that preserves the architectural and landscape heritage. What is the relation between what is built and where it is built? In which way can we intervene in heritage sites, so that the new intervention is not only evident in relation to the existing but in a way that reinforces the values present on the site, allowing for a continuity of the place.

This project starts with an exhaustive analysis of Quinta de Subserra, fragmenting all the systems that make it up. Essentially, to understand how the property grew and adapted to the place over the centuries. This project is made of two phases, one focusing on rehabilitation, preserving the values of the architecture and landscape. It is done through the implementation of a wine tourism program, which organizes and gives new meaning to the cultural side of Quinta de Subserra. A second is the construction of a winery, on a larger scale than the current one, a necessity that arises in order to optimize the wine production. The choice for the general program became evident through the elements that already connected the property to wine tourism: the production of wine the vineyard tours and wine tasting, and an event spaces. The rehabilitation of the existing buildings became cirurgical, the least intrusive possible, so that they were given the right usage, after becoming unused over time. The relation between buildings and the way they communicate with each other was thought out to respect the hierarchy present in Quinta de Subserra. The new building adapts to the territory as an extension of the existing retaining walls, creating a new terrace slope, in a way that gives a continuation to the logic of adaptation to the territory and thus minimizing the impact on the landscape. This new terrace slopes hides away the cellar and all its program, necessary for it’s good functioning, ensuring the quality of the work environment, and thus the quality of the wine produced. Both the program and the design, were thought out to be flexible in a way that facilitates the adaptation of future programs and functions that go beyond what the space was designed to be.