The project “Mugarik Gabe”, by the Portuguese architectural firm Carvalho Araújo has won the international architecture competition organised by the Basque Culinary Centre for designing the sites of EDA Drinks & Wine Campus in Vitoria-Gasteiz and Laguardia. The project was selected for its uniqueness and its seamless integration and interaction with the environment in both locations, as well as within Basque Culinary Centre ecosystem.

 

After recognizing the quality and high level of the proposals submitted, an exhaustive analysis led the jury to choose 'Mugarik Gabe', which offers two singular architectural designs that will embody the mission of EDA Drinks & Wine Campus to drive economic and social development through wine and drinks, and to position the territory as a leader internationally.

 

Selected for its commitment to landscape integration in both urban and rural environments, the architectural proposal highlights the organisation of the activity program, its functionality, and flexibility, in accordance with the project's needs. The configuration of the access points and the distribution of the different areas by floors and connecting spaces address the importance of uniting and organising the various flows, allowing for interaction between the activities carried out.

 

“MUGARIK GABE” : “A VISION WITHOUT BORDERS”

The "Mugarik Gabe" ("Without Borders") project presents two intrinsically related buildings that blend into their respective environments without defined boundaries. Each building responds to its unique context and conditions while sharing a common strategy: creating spaces to attract talent, offer specialised education, and develop research lines aimed at knowledge transfer to the sector, all with an international perspective and an integrated vision.

 

Both designs prioritise collective spaces as a naturally arising element in the buildings. The proposed design for Laguardia is based upon and draws on an extensive natural setting, while the plan for Vitoria-Gasteiz defines and opens up to its local environment. The canopy defines the approach, adapting to the context and creating an identify, with this being the essence of the project, in addition to incorporating social elements such as streets, plazas and paths, referencing public spaces of cities or landscapes. The colonnades that feature in both designs are created from a delicate transition, as with the external enclosure itself, enabling outside spaces to connect, interweaving beneath the canopies.

 

Commitment to Innovation and Sustainability

 

The EDA Drinks & Wine Campus sites will not only be places of advanced study but also icons of innovation and sustainability. The architecture prioritises energy efficiency, using passive elements to minimise energy demands and CO2 impact. Advanced technologies in green roofing will integrate rainwater management, temperature regulation, and optimised energy performance.

 

On the technical side, the buildings will feature the latest technologies in green roofs, becoming multifunctional support systems for the building by integrating rainwater collection, filtration, and distribution, watering vegetation with optimised and low-consumption systems, and reducing temperature variability inside the building to improve efficiency and energy performance. Additionally, the project seeks to optimise lighting through efficient design and natural use of sunlight and will benefit from various solutions to avoid overloading the “construction ecosystem”.

 

Architectural Highlights

Laguardia building stands out for its openness to society. The facades reveal the activities taking place inside, and the exterior corridors surrounding it allow for a walk around it, offering views of the surrounding vineyards.

 

The intervention creates a two-story structure under a roof, an extensive green platform supported by slender columns placed amid the vineyards. One floor at street level provides access to the front space, while another lower-level respects the site's topography as much as possible, settling and protecting the environment, and integrating as a green mantle over the white limestone characteristic of the area soils.

 

This structuring establishes an interactive relationship between the various activities of learning production plant, education, and the space designated for entrepreneurship incubators. Inside, nature is integrated organically, just as the building comfortably rises among the vineyards with a modern language.

 

Additionally, by shaping the roof, the project creates a sloping surface, forming a large outdoor patio that subtly reveals the productive area while allowing access to the walkable roof.

 

This landscaped roof blends green areas with spaces for activities and contemplation, becoming a balcony to the landscape where social or cultural moments can be enjoyed, taking advantage of the panoramic views of the vineyards stretching to the horizon. This idea aims to create a meaningful space for the local community, promoting a sense of identity and belonging through a respectful intervention with the surrounding landscape. The studio has opted to conceive a visual reference and a regional landmark, a meeting point.

 

In the case of Vitoria-Gasteiz, the building aims for the highest levels of respect for the landscape, context, and citizens. It rises as if it were a green mantle, a layer of soil creating a walkable space defined with character and consideration towards the surrounding buildings, enhancing the spaces around it by adding activity and character, and organically reducing the visual impact of the intervention. It will generate a dialogue with the adjacent bus station to create an integrated view of both buildings.

 

The facade that rises from the ground, with a more urban character, turns and opens towards Donostia Street Boulevard de Euskal Herria streets. In total contrast to its attitude towards the space it defines, the building offers two entrances associated with different dynamics: a more formal one directed to the lobby at this corner and a more informal one connecting directly with the exterior.

 

From these entrances, a set of connected spaces, both physically and visually, are grouped between the mezzanine and the -1 floor, taking advantage of the organisation to enhance spaces with greater height. These connections are reinforced by diagonal views between the floors, generating transversality and transparency to foster knowledge and interaction among the public. Additionally, situating the laboratories near the production areas or multipurpose rooms will enhance the value of the 'learning by doing' teaching characteristic of the Basque Culinary Center ecosystem. Similarly, the auditorium will descend from level zero to the -1 floor to connect with this study and work area on one side and the sensory area on the other, spaces that, despite their autonomy, can be articulated for a joint or complementary user experience.

 

These physical and visual relationships between spaces will allow for a transversal connection between social, education, and production learning areas, facilitating an awareness and perception of what is happening in the building, creating an open communication context.

 

The project presentation event, held today in Laguardia, was presided over by the President of the Basque Government Imanol Pradales, with the participation of Basque Culinary Center General Director Joxe Mari Aizega and the founder of the architectural firm José Manuel Carvalho Araújo. Attendees included the Deputy General of Álava Ramiro González, Mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz Maider Etxebarria, Mayor of Laguardia Raúl García, Basque Governement Minister of Food, Rural Development, Agriculture, and Fisheries Amaia Barredo, Provincial Deputy of Alava Agriculture Council Noemí Aguirre, Rector of Mondragón University Vicente Atxa, President of the Laguardia-Rioja Alavesa Association Txema Elvira, and Director of EDA Drinks & Wine Campus Elisa Ucar.

 

ABOUT CARVALHO ARAUJO

Based in Braga (Portugal) and Sao Paulo (Brazil), the Carvalho Araújo studio, founded in 1996 by José Manuel Carvalho Araújo, is dedicated to exploring and reflecting on various approaches to architecture, creative direction, and design, aiming to reconcile design practice with a more strategic perspective. Their projects are characterised by elegance of form, quality, and a sober, rational, and poetic attitude that maximises respect for proportions and materials. For its leaders, design is not a reason for exhibitionism but a rational and poetic act.

 

In both architecture and design, they value dynamic uses and interaction with the environment. The studio has a multidisciplinary team composed of architects and product, communication, and image designers to present comprehensive solutions. Carvalho Araújo has a large volume of consolidated projects not only in Portuguese territory but also in other European countries, Brazil, the United States of America, and Africa. Among their most significant projects are buildings like the De Lemos Restaurant (2012), located in Passos de Silgueros (Portugal).

 

EDA Drinks & Wine Campus

EDA Drinks & Wine Campus is an initiative led and developed by the Basque Culinary Center and promoted by the Basque Government and the Provincial Council of Álava, with the involvement of the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council. Its mission is to promote sustainable economic and social development through drinks and wine. To achieve this, it aims to attract talent, offer specialised education in collaboration with the Basque Culinary Center - Faculty of Gastronomic Sciences of Mondragon University, enhance entrepreneurship and innovation, and develop research lines focused on knowledge transfer to the sector with an international projection, an integral vision, and excellence.

 

EDA Drinks & Wine Campus will establish a pioneering project at an international level from an open perspective. From its two sites in Laguardia and Vitoria-Gasteiz, alongside the Basque Culinary ecosystem, it will contribute to the transformation of the wine and drinks sector, becoming an international leader in innovation and providing a unique component to companies, with transversal view from raw materials, viticulture-agriculture, production, management, product design, commercialization, and hospitality. This will be done based on principles of quality, sustainability, and health, with a global approach, generating economic and social development.