Local architecture studio Carmen Maurice Architecture (CMA) has unveiled its design for a new winery that wraps around an old mill, blending history and modern winemaking on a vineyard in northern France. Situated at the Vineyard de Rhuys in Sarzeau, Brittany, the project, named Wine Storehouse, celebrates the region’s winemaking revival, mirroring the cyclical process of winemaking through its semi-circular structure.
The Commune de Sarzeau is spearheading an initiative to rejuvenate the area’s winemaking industry, which had largely disappeared by the 1950s. After a 70-year hiatus, the Vineyard de Rhuys is once again producing wine, prompting the local authorities to commission a design for a new wine cellar and public tasting space to mark this renaissance.
CMA’s design features a semi-circular building that hugs the renovated mill, using the historic structure as a central landmark. The winery’s layout is optimized for the winemaking process, progressing from harvesting at the north to bottling and distribution at the southern end of the building.
Carmen Maurice, the architect behind the project, explained that while the winery required rooms with significant height for the winemaking equipment, the available land for construction was limited due to the proximity of the mill and already established vineyards. To address this, CMA proposed an architectural solution that utilizes the earth’s thermal properties while ensuring the mill remains the focal point of the site, symbolically acting as a “beacon” in the vineyard.
The winery’s half-buried design incorporates a basement level that houses essential facilities such as a fermentation room with a wine press, a cellar for bottle storage, and a dry goods room for items like labels. By placing the wine press underground, the design allows for a gravity-driven method of processing grapes, which maintains their quality by eliminating the need for lifting.
The ground-floor level features a labeling room that connects to the cellar, a tasting room offering views of the fermentation area, staff locker rooms, and a half-level warehouse. The building is constructed with 40-centimeter-thick brick walls, eliminating the need for additional insulation and ensuring the project could be completed on a tight timeline. The underground spaces are finished in raw concrete, designed for easy cleaning in a functional, high-maintenance environment.
For the building’s exterior, CMA selected lime plaster made by a local artisan using sand from nearby beaches. The material’s “unexpected plasticity” changes in appearance depending on the light and weather, creating a subtle connection to the maritime landscape surrounding the vineyard.
The renovated mill now serves as an exhibition space on its ground floors, showcasing heritage items related to the region’s winemaking history, while its upper floors are dedicated to offices for the winemakers. Vineyard de Rhuys’ first harvest took place in 2022, producing nearly 6,500 bottles of wine labeled “dantelezh”—a Breton term meaning “lace.”
Carmen Maurice Architecture, based in Vannes, Brittany, has also worked on several other notable projects in the region, including the renovation of a 17th-century chapel by Ronan Bouroullec and a geometric church designed by Álvaro Siza.
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