The Häremillen estate, located in Ehnen, has taken steps to build an additional storage and wine-production facility. This new building is intended to meet the family-run business’s growing need for space.

The proposed site is strategically located close to the existing winery, namely on the hillside facing the hamlet of Wolkegruet/Reisselt. However, this choice raises the question of how to intervene in this vineyard-dominated landscape on the outskirts of the Ehnen built-up area.

A careful and sensitive observation of the existing landscape forms the basis of the project. The Reisselt road clearly delineates two areas. To the south lies an urbanised landscape where the town of Ehnen stands. To the north are hillsides in an agricultural zone, currently free of any built-up development. This natural landscape, with its topography, rhythm and sequences characterised by vineyards, is representative of the Moselle region.

How should we intervene in this wine-growing landscape? The project’s ambition goes beyond traditional regulations. Rather than simply keeping the site ‘free from inappropriate developments’ (see PAG), the project aims to keep the site ‘free from any developments’. The approach of traditional, invasive construction is therefore ruled out. The intervention, as minimal and effective as possible, aims to preserve the landscape; it is subordinate to and integrated into the architecture of the site.

The project’s integration is literal: the site’s topography is utilised – the new wine hall is slipped in and incorporated beneath the vines. Only a precise incision is visible in the landscape. This creates a logistics area, a forecourt, an extension of the public space and provides access to the hall.