Design a wine tasting room in Italy! Valli Wine Tasting Room is launched!

The Valli Wine Tasting Room competition invites architects and designers to propose a contemporary tasting space for Valli Unite, an agricultural cooperative located in the rural hills of Piedmont, northern Italy. The competition explores how architecture can create meaningful connections between wine, landscape, hospitality, and sustainable rural life through a modest and carefully integrated architectural intervention.

Located near the small village of Costa Vescovato in the Colli Tortonesi wine region, the site is surrounded by vineyards, cultivated fields, forests, and rolling valleys. Known for its natural beauty and strong agricultural traditions, the region has become internationally recognized for natural and organic wine production, particularly the revival of the native Timorasso grape variety. The quiet and deeply rural character of the landscape plays a central role in the identity of the competition.

Valli Unite itself is one of Italy’s pioneering agricultural cooperatives dedicated to organic farming and natural wine production. Founded in the early 1980s as a collective response to rural abandonment, the cooperative has grown into a community-oriented agricultural and cultural landmark. Today, Valli Unite manages vineyards, farmland, agritourism facilities, and communal spaces while promoting values of sustainability, collective work, environmental responsibility, and close connection to the land.

The competition asks participants to design a wine tasting room extension connected to the existing wine storage facility. The challenge encourages sensitive and sustainable proposals that respond carefully to the surrounding landscape and the philosophy of Valli Unite. Participants are invited to explore how architecture can shape intimate visitor experiences while strengthening the relationship between wine culture, agriculture, and the rural environment.

PRIZES

3 winning proposals, 2 special award recipients and 6 honourable mentions will be selected. Buildner will award a total of 10,000 € in prize money to competition winners as follows:

1st Prize - 5,000 €
2nd Prize - 2,500 €
3rd Prize - 1,000 €
+ 6 honourable mentions

Buildner Student Award - 1,000 €
Buildner Sustainability Award - 500 €

COMPETITION SCHEDULE

Early Bird Registration: MAY 25 – JULY 30
Advance Registration: JULY 31 – OCTOBER 8
Last Minute Registration: OCTOBER 9 – JANUARY 14

Final registration deadline: JANUARY 14, 2027
Closing date for submission: FEBRUARY 15, 2027 (23:59 London Time)
Announcement of the winners: MARCH 30, 2027

More:  https://architecturecompetitio...