Franz Haas Winery

Conceived for the Franz Haas Winery in Doladizza (Montagna/Montan), South Tyrol, the project presents winemaking as an ongoing dialogue between landscape, craft, and time. Doladizza occupies a sunny agricultural plateau above the Rio Nero gorge, shaped by orchards, vineyards, and long views toward the valley. In this setting, architecture is most convincing when it feels inevitable: low, measured, and materially rooted in the terrain.

The design begins with an almost topographical gesture: a building that follows the slope rather than opposing it. From the vineyard, the winery appears as a series of horizon lines, a green roof that extends the ground plane and a timber-clad perimeter that bends with the contours. A more compact, mineral upper volume is set back and partially concealed, reinforcing the sense that the building is embedded in the hillside. This is not only a visual strategy; it provides the cellar with the stable environmental conditions wine requires while reducing the apparent scale of a technically complex programme.

The plan is organised around a clear distinction, and careful intersection, between production and visitor experience. Operationally, the winery functions as a precise sequence: grapes in, must and wine through controlled stages, bottles out, with no overlap between logistics and public circulation. Service access and manoeuvring areas are positioned for efficient vehicle movement, while the internal layout follows the winemaking process: receiving and first processing, fermentation and tank rooms, barrel ageing, bottling, storage, and dispatch. Most of these spaces sit within the thermally buffered mass of the building, with level changes supporting gravity-assisted workflows and placing the most climate-sensitive rooms deep within the envelope.

In parallel, the public route is conceived as a gradual reveal, a calm transition from landscape to interior, then a measured opening toward light and views. Glazed elements are placed with intention: to mark arrival, to frame the cellar as a place of craft, and to culminate in hospitality spaces oriented toward the vineyard geography that defines the wines. This resonates strongly with a producer whose identity is tied to altitude, microclimate, and terroir across multiple municipalities, with vineyards among the highest in South Tyrol.

Materially, the proposal is restrained and site-responsive. A timber screen wraps parts of the lower volumes, acting as a mediating layer between architecture and landscape, its rhythm providing shade, protection, and texture while softening the scale of the industrial programme. The upper elements adopt a more monolithic, stone-like character, grounding the building in the mineral register of the region. The roofscape becomes usable terrain: a planted surface that extends the landscape, punctuated by openings that draw light into deeper spaces and establish a measured relationship between enclosure and sky.

Sustainability is a primary design driver. Partial earth integration and the extensive planted roof increase thermal inertia, moderating temperature swings and reducing peak energy loads. Daylight enters through controlled roof apertures that deliver light where needed while limiting glare and heat gain. Natural ventilation is used strategically, supported by a system that incorporates earth-tempered air intake routes to reduce energy demand and enhance comfort.

The environmental systems are designed for long-term performance: geothermal heat pumps, radiant heating and cooling (particularly through floor systems), and low-energy distribution strategies for larger spaces. Photovoltaics are integrated where orientation and geometry allow, without compromising the roof’s role as a landscape surface. These measures align with Franz Haas’s broader ethos of stewardship, an approach that values organic practices, biodiversity, and a landscape that supports pollination and ecological richness rather than manicured uniformity.

Ultimately, the project proposes a winery that is both infrastructural and atmospheric: efficient in production, welcoming in its public spaces, and deeply anchored to its site through proportion, restraint, and environmental intelligence. It seeks to translate the winery’s cultural identity, its craft, experimentation, and long-standing design sensibility, including the collaboration with artist Riccardo Schweizer, into an architecture that feels precise, quiet, and enduring.

client. Franz Haas Winery

year. 2008