Located about 2h away from Nice to the east, this unique property will be redeveloped and refurbished from the ground up as part of a master plan from 2020 until 2023.
The vineyard La Curniere near Tavernes is blessed with a 120ha setting, most of it woodland. This is part of a four-year-long phased contract.
Designing a vineyard has always been a dream for us here at VORBILD Architecture. In the middle of 2020, we got a chance at pitching our proposal to the vineyard in the south of France, which after overcoming difficulties in both travel and design terms, we were finally awarded in late summer 2020.
Our clients main objective is to transform this rather neglected gem of a vineyard into a very private hotel area. The idea of renting the whole house for guests, and not as it is customary room by room, has been the brainchild of our very private client despite the ongoing Covid situation. However, it fits into the new reality of travel very very well. The hotel consists of a traditional Provencal longhouse with a small and largely original chapel at one end, and the traditional wine-making rooms at the other end.
The design task is as with other vineyards to balance commercial income-making areas, with the necessary private views over the landscape. We hired a famous watercolor artist to help us visualize our vision to the client. This vision can be summarised in the idea of making a new small traditional village at this vineyard. This means that our aim is to emphasize and improve all traditional detailing, architecture, interiors, and character of this area. This was partially be achieved by lovingly restoring all the buildings, as well as creating a landscape fine for basically every square meter of this area.
The biggest focus of the vineyard is of course the wine. As part of our master plan which has been accepted, we plan to redevelop and change the way the wine has been made at this Vinyard. The new building where the wine will be made, stored, and bottled has been purposefully set slightly away from all the other buildings and central area, as this needs to be a brand-new building, and we did not want its architecture to disturb the existing setting. This move will not only improve how the wine is made, and also allow for much greater flexibility and increase in production, it will also free up otherwise very underused traditional wine cellars transformed into picturesque Skansen-like facilities. Imagine having a wine tasting in an actual wine store underground surrounded by barrels of aged wine.
The main building has been attempted to be transformed a few times over the last several years since our client owns this building, however, these attempts have been always only partial and largely unsuccessful.
This time, however, action calls for a bold plan to completely redesign every single area of the estate, and restore it to its traditional beautiful look. The plan consists of getting planning permission for the whole new development before proceeding to 3 years’ worth of construction stages during the off-peak season times, to allow the hotel and other facilities to reopen as they are being completed.
