Alonso | Balaguer

Protos' new facilities consist of a new winery and headquarters for social and managerial representation. The building, answering to the critical special and environmental conditions necessary for the elaboration of the wine, is representative of Protos’ brand and joins Peñafiel's surroundings, providing solutions that minimize the consumption of the energy necessary to maintain optimal conditions. Energy saving is not only important, but inherent to its design. The new building connects with the former wine cellars (located in a series of long corridors under the mountain of the historical and brightly restored Castle of Peñafiel, future Museum of Wine) through a tunnel built under the divider road. The base of the building is buried, taking advantage of the thermal inertia and placing the areas for production and maturation of the wine, interpreting in a contemporary tone the traditional construction of the wineries. Anchored in the area, this base regularizes the topography, creating a support for the light covering that rests over it. This light covering is formed by a structure of parabolic arches of laminated wood, reinterpreting the construction of ship-shaped wine cellars. Its consideration as a façade, regarding the sights from the Castle of Peñafiel, becomes vital in the architectural composition of the building. The volumetric treatment joins the environment, in balance with the different scales. If every city has an environmental, visual or landscaping characteristic, Peñafiel finds its own feature reflected in the brown reddish colour of the sloping ceramic decks of its facilities. Having a deck that joins such colour and material was a fundamental premise in the design; a double skin in the fifth façade. In association with Richard Rogers Partnership