Château Margaux Winery Gets New Building by Foster + Partners

In an event worthy of popping bottles, Foster + Partners has completed the first new construction in more than 200 years at the Château Margaux winery in Bordeaux, France. Both red and white wine will be produced in the facility, called the Nouveau Chai, a pavilion with tree-shaped load-bearing columns and a red-tile roof designed to match those of existing buildings. So even though this is a new structure, it is meant to blend into the historic surroundings.

“At first glance there does not appear to be a new building,” Lord Norman Foster says in a statement. “This is deliberate and it is only on closer inspection that the new addition is revealed.”

Foster + Partners also built an approximately 229-foot-long vinothèque beneath the vineyard to store the estate’s collection of special Château Margaux bottles. The location is away from the flooding area, and the concrete structure helps naturally regulate temperatures.

The project also included the refurbishment of the orangery, which protects orange and lemon trees during the winter and is the oldest building on the estate. It had been altered over the years, and so the additions were removed and the original structure has been restored. This included opening up the large south-facing windows to create a winter garden, which doubles as an event space.