Atelier Sérgio Rebelo encases Portuguese winery in sinuous timber frame
A cluster of gently curving timber volumes merges to form Quinta de Adorigo Winery in Portugal, designed by architecture studio Atelier Sérgio Rebelo to reference the surrounding terraced vineyards.
Located in the historic winemaking region and UNESCO World Heritage site Alto Douro Vinhateiro, the winery was completed as part of a wider tourism complex, which includes a hotel currently under construction.
The project was recently shortlisted in the hospitality project category of the Dezeen Awards 2025.
Informed by the wavy contours of the landscape's terraced vineyards and the gravity-flow winemaking process, Atelier Sérgio Rebelo housed Quinta de Adorigo Winery's production and visitor facilities in a cluster of curving barn-like forms that step down the hillside.
Dug into the ground on a base of concrete clad in local schist stone, these gabled volumes are constructed from laminated wooden frames infilled with cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glass-fibre-reinforced concrete panels.
Their twisting timber framework has been left exposed both inside and out, described by founder Sérgio Rebelo as being reminiscent of the "skeleton of an ancient, giant animal".
"We studied many iterations until we found something that just seemed natural and as though it was always there," Rebelo told Dezeen.
"I wanted the building to blur with the landscape, in a way that you can't tell where the building starts or ends," he added.
"The geometry of the winery's roof interprets the vernacular gable roof structured in wood," Rebelo continued. "This structure has been taken over and exposed in this winery and has become a sinuous, continuous and organic sculptural element that flows through the tangential curves of the vineyard slope."
While the grapes begin their journey via a series of circular gravity-drop openings at the building's highest point, the visitor route begins at its lowest, entering through a "cave-like" shop and up a sculptural exposed-concrete staircase.
This entrance spaces opens into the double-height, skylit ageing space at the heart of the building, where industrial vats and barrels sit overlooked by steel balconies and a glazed tasting room for visitors.
Partially sinking this area within stone retaining walls created the thermal mass necessary to maintain a stable temperature range as the wine ages.
"The section of this space is very similar to a church – about 10 meters high – with natural light coming from above," said Rebelo.
"In a way, this makes the room feel very spiritual and with a special connection to timelessness."
Other wineries recently featured on Dezeen include the Circular Pictograma winery in Mexico by Rojkind Arquitectos and AMASA Estudio, and a semi-circular winery in northern France by Carmen Maurice Architecture.
The photography is by Fernando Guerra.
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