Laury Winery, Mindszentkálla

Architect: Gábor Sajtos
Text: Anna Szövényi
Photos: Tamás Bujnovszky

Heading towards Mindszentkálla, on the hills next to the main road, a house appears between the rows of vines, with its white gable, and then drives on and disappears behind the mountain. As we head down to the village, a gray rock-like contour emerges on the hilltop, not fitting to the side of the mountain, but crouching on the roof. This is the Laury wine terrace. The area lies on the border of the vineyard and the forest and follows the contour of the existing press house. The tasting building was placed on the border of the plateau and the hillside, but its mass was parallel to the coordinates of the forest, diagonally to the slope. This situation leaving the slope holds special opportunities, including the diagonal two-level, which the designer has taken good advantage of. The lower basement accommodates an apartment, a few steps down here from the hillside, while an elevated wooden staircase leads up to the elevated level of the tasting room from the direction of the vineyard. However, we can get out of the lower level not only towards the valley, but also to Lake Balaton on the gable. This way, the building becomes open on all sides, just turning its back on the forest.

Architecture: SAGRA Építész Kft
Leading architect: Gábor Sajtos DLA
Architects: Péter Virág, László Takács