Expressing the Setouchi landscape as an architectural structure
This project is a manufacturing and sales base with a restaurant for Setouchi Brewery, a winery built on the site of a former shipyard. The brewery’s concept of “a winery that travels” required the creation of a story and landscape that conveyed the experience of the winery. Taking advantage of the site’s unique Setouchi characteristics, which overlook the sea, islands, mountains, and sky as they change with the passage of time, we aimed to create a diverse group of places where visitors can spend time both indoors and outdoors in a variety of ways, including casual stays such as tours and cafe use, barbecues and course meals, and large and small ceremonies.
The facility is a cohesive plaza integrated with the sea, created by two architectural volumes, plantings, a serpentine wall made of shipyard waste, and fill. The axis that extends straight from the front road to the shoreline runs through the plaza, connecting the sea and mountain landscapes in a contrasting manner, and the large-roofed gate frames the sky and the islandscape, creating an uplifting sense of approach. The 35-meter sloping roof emphasizes the horizon of the Seto Inland Sea and guides the eye toward the mountain range. The undulating ground and floor surfaces inside and outside of the building, as well as the small raised deck, terraced deck, and counter, guide the eye to the characteristic landscape of the surrounding environment, and create a spatial density that opens and closes, and an expanse that integrates the interior and exterior. The gentle staircase with decking in the brewery building becomes a bench for viewing the sea, and the second floor balcony becomes a viewpoint from which the newly built brewery, the remains of the former shipyard, and the island in the distance can be seen in a unified manner. The all-gloss painted kitchen volume and silver steel roof emphasize the transition between sea and sky, and the salt-impact resistant burnt cedar exterior evokes memories of the Seto Inland Sea. The view of the mountain range from the plaza omits the cityscape in the foreground, revealing only the sky and mountain ridges in the background. The symbolic large roof creates a single continuous and generous brand experience, layering the landscape with spaces that offer a variety of purposes and comforts. It is a spatial experience that was created by selecting and incorporating the various stories and landscapes inside and outside the site, including the sea and mountains of the Seto Inland Sea, and the remains of the former shipyard. At the same time, it is an architectural space that re-edits the way we see the existing landscape through this spatial experience.
（菅原大輔／SUGAWARADAISUKE建築事務所）
