'la cité du vin' by XTU architects celebrates bordeaux's wine heritage

‘la cité du vin’ by XTU architects celebrates bordeaux’s wine heritage
image © delphine isart

in bordeaux, french practice XTU architects has completed ‘la cité du vin’, a curvaceous building that celebrates the region’s unparalleled wine industry. the eye-catching structure, located on the banks of the garonne river, serves as wine theme park — offering tours, tasting areas, boutique concept stores, and a panoramic rooftop restaurant. the design team, led by anouk legendre and nicolas desmazières, sought to create a link between the new building and its context by generating a sense of perpetual movement. ‘this building does not resemble any recognizable shape because it is an evocation of the soul of wine between the river and the city,’ explain the architects. ‘every detail of the architecture evokes wine’s soul and liquid nature: seamless roundness, intangible and sensual’.

the eye-catching structure is located on the banks of the garonne river
image © julien lanoo

designed to represent wine swirling in a glass, the building’s sinuous façade comprises silk-screen printed panes of glass and perforated, iridescent aluminum panels. changing appearance depending on the time of day, the building establishes a dialogue with the river through its reflections — thus generating a correlation with wine’s constantly changing appearance. two entrances, deliberately positioned on either side of the scheme, create an impression of movement — an ebb and flow between inside and outside. one entrance faces the city, while the other is oriented towards the river. at its highest point, an elevated tower provides visitors with sweeping views across the city below.

the building celebrates bordeaux’s unparalleled wine industry
image © paul desmazieres

internally, the wine tour itself has also been conceived as an organic flow of movement. visitors pass through the building like a river, with guests becoming voyagers circulating around the central staircase. ‘each person discovers a new world in a fluid, rotating motion leading to an unusual, limitless destination, like a journey through the meanderings of a cultural landscape, which feeds the imagination,‘ surmises the design team. ‘la citè du vin’ opens its doors to the public on june 1, 2016.

the project includes tours, tasting areas, and boutique concept stores
image © julien lanoo

the design seeks to establish a sense of perpetual movement
image © XTU architects

tasting areas form an important part of the scheme
image © XTU architects

tours generate an organic flow of movement
image © XTU architects

the scheme is organized around a centrally positioned staircase
image © julien lanoo

gallery space is found throughout the building
image © julien lanoo

an auditorium for film screenings
image © julien lanoo

an elevated tower provides visitors with sweeping views across the city below
image © XTU architects

the building viewed from the surrounding context
image © julien lanoo

‘la cité du vin’ opens its doors to the public on june 1, 2016
image © julien lanoo

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project info:

program: 10 levels between the core and the tower, a permanent tour, three tasting areas including 1 multi-sensory immersive space, a reading room, a boutique concept store, 2 restaurants and a panoramic restaurant
client: city of bordeaux
owner: fondation de la cité du vin
architects: XTU architects — anouk legendre + nicolas desmazières
project leaders: mathias lukacs, dominique zentelin
on site team: delphine isart, claire leroux, thibault le poncin, joan tarragon
research team: joan tarragon, gaëlle le borgne, stefania maccagan, cristina sanchez

partners:
scenographer: casson mann
engineering: SNC-lavalin
environmental engineering: le sommer environnement

project dates:
competition: april, 2011
build: september, 2013
completed: may, 2016
site: 13,644 sqm
surface area: 12,927 sqm, including 2,800 sqm of permanent exhibition
budget: 81M€ excluding VAT/ 55M€ (architecture and scenography)