Aleš Fiala conceives Gurdau Winery as a concrete hill nestled in a natural landscape

What comes to mind when you think about the countryside? What conjures up in most imaginations, including mine, is a picture of lush green fields dotted by humble abodes and animated with life ambling leisurely—at a pace estranged from the urbane. The stark contrast between the urban and rural, their skylines, semantics and rhythms, delineates their diverse paths of evolution. The domineering, bold and robust cityscapes are melting pots of varied expressions, much like their populace. These now-urban fabrics have mutated with the times, yet the traces of bygone eras covertly waft in its nooks and crannies—you find a little bit of everything. The countryside, on the contrary, is a quaint embodiment of the past in the present—its fragile beauty demanding to be treated with sensitivity. It is in these landscapes where the powerfully uniform context truly sculpts architecture. The circumstance is a quandary in tandem, challenging the architect to inject the contemporary into the relatively rustic, walking on the thin line that separates the amusing from the jarring.

The age-old traditions of wine-making have cultivated a prominent and thriving tourist culture. Wine tourism, or Enotourism, lures torrents of urban crowds to vineyards ensconced in the lap of nature, away from the city bustle and clamour. One such village in the Czech Republic, with a wine-making tradition that dates back over a thousand years, is Kurdějov. Gurdau Winery was founded in 2012 in this municipality in the South Moravian region, planting its first vines on the village’s lush slopes. Its new wine house now sits in the centre of these vineyards, both poetically and purposefully—integrating architecture and natural landscape through its organic meanders. Conceived by Aleš Fiala studio, the building wittingly mirrors the hills that surround it and its inviting cocoon blends effortlessly into the terrain and natural greenery. 

Rooted in Kurdějov’s historical position as one of the most important wine suppliers to the town of Mikulov and Brno, as well as the aristocratic courts in Moravia, Gurdau Winery reiterates its rich heritage. The positioning of the winery initially took into operational efficiency, a criterion that was met fairly well in the centre of the vineyards. This way, the structure steps back from the village while offering captivating views. With the location in the open countryside, the requirement for architectural and landscape integration was important, creating the organic architectural intervention an unambiguous solution.

The winery appears as a modified offshoot of its context as its gentle curve charts the green fields and then dissolves into them. The silhouette's subtle yet impactful presence highlights the careful thought behind establishing a synergy between the building, the culture, and the natural terrain. The curved roof is clad in extensive greenery, while the surrounding area of the building has 150 shrubs and mature trees that often grow through the ‘perforated’ roof. As the encircling greenery thrives, the building envelope and its impact are meant to evolve, unravelling as the years go by—becoming almost invisible from a distance once the vegetation conquers its facade design.

The winery is two storeys high and built in reinforced concrete. The underground part is used for producing, storing, and archiving wine while the ground floor, is for tasting, seating and sales. The layout also offers two apartments for occasional overnight stays. The in-ground setting featured in the building is similar to that of traditional wineries, yet its concept is entirely contemporary and timeless. The ambience is rooted in an immersive experience of beauty, refinement and comfort. Materials such as exposed concrete, glass, metal, oak and acacia wood bolster a clean aesthetic while supporting the organic shell of the building. The design team also addresses craftsmanship and detail with thorough attention.

The lush landscape outside the winery trickles into internal spaces through large expanses of glazing, generous terraces, and a pitched roof—inviting nature to render the interior spaces with its seasons. Planting the concrete architecture harmoniously in the terrain creates an image of an embracing backdrop of the winery seamlessly blending in with the place where the wine comes from. The terraces and the artificial hill of the green roof are an opportunity to be enraptured by the breathtaking scenery of the horizons of Kurdějov, the Pálava emerging in the distance and the plains running towards Austria. The interior design encompasses diverse spaces that are favourable for social and romantic moments as well as contemplation over a glass of wine. “We believe that the Gurdau Winery concept will make a significant contribution to the rapidly growing and increasing wine and wine-tourist culture in the Czech Republic, and will support the growth of a new charming tradition of cultivated encounters and connections between man, wine and landscape,” the team states in their official release.

Sustainability and respect for the surrounding landscape are ingrained in the new winery—in terms of its form, planning and supplementary features. The new shrubs and mature trees are planted in an effort towards creating an optimal microclimate in the future. The placement of the building in the vineyard curtails the transportation of raw materials and workers of the winery. The production areas are located underground and the public areas are kept open to the sun —making use of natural light and passive energy. To avoid overheating on the hottest summer days, thermally insulating triple glazing is devised in combination with wooden oak slats in front of the windows, a sufficient overhang of the curved roof, and shading of the pergola in front of the façade with tarpaulins. An air-to-water heat pump is employed for heating and rainwater is collected in a storage tank and used for irrigation of the vineyard.

In Gurdau Winery, Fiala injects the context into the architecture—making the surroundings the true sculptor of the project, and the designers, mere mediators. Sustainable design resides at the building's core, not only in terms of materials and design processes but most importantly, in the relationship it exhibits with the trees, the contours and the meadows of Kurdějov. The structure poses a vital question: does good architecture necessitate standing out or does it entail blending in? And what does standing out really mean? Diverging from the urban pursuit of the noticeable and eye-catching, this subtle concrete wave in the midst of nature decides to take a backseat—partaking diligently in a country painting, but with a sip of contemporaneity.

Project Details

Studio: Aleš Fiala
Client: Gurdau Winery
Project location: Kurdějov 300, 693 01 Kurdějov
Project country: Czech Republic
Completion year: 2022
Built-up Area: 1260 m²
Gross Floor Area: 1141 m²
Usable Floor Area: 997 m²
MEP: Projekce TZB Prokeš
Electrical installations and security system: CATEGORY
Landscaping: Zdeněk Sendler
Furniture design, interior details: Daniela Hradilová
General contractor: Navláčil stavební firma
Steel constructions: OMELKA
Joinery: DŘEVOSTYL [Libor Zeman]
Bílek&Bílek truhlářství
Wooden floors and terraces: BELEVEY [Ladislav Sedláček]