Le Monde Garden

The award winning Le Monde winery nestles between the sea and the hills of North East Italy, an area steeped in traditional wine culture. The site houses both the winery and visitors centre, along with a guest house. The focus of the winery garden project was to create a space that played with the balance between public and private space whilst creating a controlled journey for the visitor. Echoes of the surrounding vineyards can be found in the linearity which is expressed throughout the garden.

The surrounding fence is constructed of flat Corten steel pieces arranged vertically. The width and the rotation of each individual piece allows control of the visual permeability of the garden. Visitors will be lead from the Wine Tasting Room to where the pathway forks, left takes you down towards the main garden, the route which visitors will be taken, and right takes you directly up to the winery building. Following the leftmost path you are brought around to the gardens main entrance, with a large Corten plaque inscribed with musings on wine from various poets.

Through the entrance the pathway snakes up towards the main building. To the left of the path is a low wall, over which you can see into the private garden. Further along this wall suddenly cantilevers and increases to full height in order to obscure the view to the swimming pool, showers and seating areas of the private space. This combined with right hand wall blocks the view to the private garden from the winery building.

Cleverly position slots on the stone allows glimpses of the water and play with horizontal strips of vertical garden , these sequences of horizontal indications culminates with a glass slot that allows the view of the barbecue fire on the opposite part. Within the private space, intended for use by guests, this wall stretches along the whole garden, culminating in a barbecue and log store where it meets the building at the top end. Here a glass and timber shade reaches over the seating area, to allow use of the space even during the hottest times of the day.

The pool is divided into two separate sections by stone steps that sit just above the level of the water, giving the illusion that they float. To one side is a shallow bathing hydromassage pool while the other, larger, section allows for swimming. An automated cover for the pool is concealed beneath one edge. Teak Timber flooring follows on from the stone steps down the length of the private garden, culminating in a seating area. At the far end of the garden this timber surface seems to fold back on itself, raising up on curved steel beams and becoming a shade for the sunken seating below. The overall result is a garden that’s at one with its surroundings and offers visitors a beautifully considered environment that they feel welcome to journey through, whilst ensuring that the residents and guests have a private space to relax within.

Alessandro Isola

Engineer and site manager: Marco Sari
Contractor for swimming pool: Zorzi Impianti
Loose Furniture: Paola Lenti