Wine Tasting House in Maipo Winery / Claro+Westendarp

Architects: Claro & Westendarp
Location: Maipo Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile
Project Area: 255.0 m2
Project Year: 2011
Photography: Natalia Vial

Collaborator: Benjamín Goñi
Structures: Claudio Hinojosa
Construction: Cristián Carvallo
Site Area: 200 Há
Materials: Metal structure, recycled barrel staves pavement, double glass and Hunter Douglas metal lattices. Exterior cladding: Coigüe wood from recycled barrels.

From the architect. The commission arises from the need of Maipo Winery to have a place to receive visitors, especially clients and journalists. The dynamic of these visits is to see the vines and taste the wines in the same environment, and recognize the terroir.

From this premise, we designed a house whose location is directly related to the variables of the place, which influence the shape and the general foundations of the house. The site is an open space with two very unique geographical features: the river basin and the hill.

The house is placed at the foot of the hill, which acts as a backdrop, creating a “front and back” which encourages visits towards the full openness of the place and the presence of the basin, so important and necessary in the world of wine.

With this, the house opens into the valley and closes to the back set by the hill. The shape of the siting follows the geometry of the hillside.

The architectural form presents a single-sided volume that responds to the sequencing of the visit: tasting room, living room, dining room and terrace.

This sequence unfolds on a platform elevated from the ground, which allows a view over the trellises.

We use coigüe wood (from recycled wine barrels) and steel, which are materials that belong to the winemaking processes.

Materials

This project used Hunter Douglas Quiebravista Woodbrise on the facade. This product is an alternative for extra warmth which can be optimally adapted to smaller-scale projects and a higher degree of finishes. Prepainted aluminum caps, impact and weather resistant, carry an integrated eave which joins to the drive rod, which allows pivotal movement.