Anfiteatro delle Vigne – Fontanafredda Winery by ACC Naturale Architettura + PlaC

In the heart of the Langhe, Unesco World Heritage Site and crossroads of history and literature, along the Barolo road, on the Fontanafredda winery Estate, are the delicate interventions that unite and connect the new, sustainable, diffuse hotel. When the House of Savoy bought the property in 1858, there was already an estate producing wine. From 2008 a Green Renaissance project came to life, with all the surrounding vineyards certified organic and the entire redevelopment sustainable.

The system of restoration, redevelopment and landscape interventions is implemented in order not to distort and enhance the history of the estate, marking green and strategic points and creating a path linked to the sustainable diffuse hotel.

The landscape project is used as a ‘device’ that aims to represent the synthesis between the aspiration to contemporaneity and the expression of local identities that find expression in the landscape.

The project is articulated in different structures capable of offering integrated services and activities that connect the different functions in a common objective:

tourism through the accommodation activity of the diffuse hotel and restaurants Hotel Vigna Magica and Cascina Galarej, agriculture with the vineyards cultivated for the wine production of the Fontanafredda Winery, and culture as the underlying link between thought and landscape, with the objectives pursued by the E. di Mirafiore Foundation, all in a system of relations for the enhancement of the territory.

In the Vigna Magica, where there used to be a simple roof over a large building, a roof garden has been designed. Medium-trunked trees and shrubs have been selected, and the roofs of the area below have been treated with technological substrates for hanging gardens and planted with an “aromatic lawn” and decumbent species and decorated with climbing roses. From these roofs, using a system of pergolas and pots, the greenery is extended into the surrounding areas. All the species used are characterised by a good degree of rusticity and a limited need for irrigation. (6 Quercus suber, 93 Laurus nobilis, 33 Osmarea burkwoodii, 33 Prunus lusitanica, 300 Rosmarinus prostratus, 9 Taxus baccata, 22 Rhyncospermum, 4 Olea fragrans, 9 Perovskai atriplicifolia, 75 aromatic plants, 5 rose bush  “David Austin”, 8 climbing roses “David Austin”.)

The main entrance is underlined by a small entrance garden to welcome visitors: the pergola at the entrance portal with the logo, the lights accompanying visitors and the path to be followed to the fountain around which the estate has grown, inspired by a 19th century fresco on a wall. Particular attention has been paid to elements of sustainability, both in terms of maintenance – the paving materials are draining – and in terms of water requirements, as the rustic essences require little continuous irrigation and do not require constant pruning. (5 Rhyncospermum jasminoides, 4 Olea fragrans, 2 Buxus sempervirens, 2 Philadelphus coronaries 3 Olea fragrans, 70 Buxus sempervirens, 15 Rose ‘Iceberg’, 90 Rosmarinus officinalis prostratus, 2 Ross Banksiae, 9 Rose bush’David Austin’.)

Lastly, the Galarej farmstead, with rooms and a spa, is being restored and upgraded, and on the crest of a hill. For this building, the architectural aspects of the existing building have been enhanced with the inclusion of large windows and the use of natural materials such as wood and stone. The relationship with the surrounding nature, the key to the project, extends into the exterior design with the new greenhouse and an area of green pergolas.

For the lighting of the access road to the facilities of about 700 metres, the project is able to restore new night landscapes. Adaptive lights with sensor integration were chosen as an innovative response to functional, aesthetic and energy-saving requirements and to the reduction of light pollution.

Twenty-one solar-powered Photinus streetlights by Leitner Energy are installed, with a spacing of 40 metres and without ground wiring.

The landscape is modulated by the close contact with the vineyards that fade into hilly horizons. The botanical reading for the green stitching and ornamental components requires caution so as to implement insertions and juxtapositions marked by criteria of ecological acceptability and respect for the place and biodiversity.

The choice of species falls almost exclusively on the shrub and herbaceous component, with some inclusion of trees already present and spontaneous specimens that are maintained. Flower beds and lawn areas are created around the hotel and the swimming pool, with a choice of ornamental and fusion species that creep up to the edge of the vineyards.

Perennial herbaceous plants are always aggregated in groups to achieve a very ‘natural’ looking effect.

(Laurus Nobilis, Rincospermum, Philirea Angustifolia, Quercus Ilex, Gaura, Agapantus, Rosmarino Phylea, Perovskia Verbena, Pennisetum, Trachelosermim, Rose Banksia, Hidrangea).

• Project typology:

Diffuse rural hospitality

• All landscape architecture offices involved in the design of landscape:

ACC naturale architettura

• Aarchitecture offices involved in the design:

ACC naturale architettura + PlaC Architecture urban design

• Other credits:

Cristiana Catino, Andrea Alessio, Gian Luca Meli, Marco Gherardi, Marco Lagamba, Rocco Scuzzarella