Studio: TOTEMENT / PAPER

Designer / Architect: Levon Airapetov, Valeria Preobrazhenskaya, Diana Grekova, Andrey Gulyaev, Yulia Golovenkova, Andrey Kayukov, Natalya Grishinchuk, Dmitry Smirnov

Client: Alliance 1892

Personal / Commissioned: Commissioned Project

Location: Chernyakhovsk, Russia Russia

This is the first Brandy Distillery in Russia and it is going to be equipped with a high-technology line. That is why the majority of processes will take place in “laboratory cleanliness” and we are going to show the visitors of this manufacture the full extent of what constitutes the alchemical process of obtaining this drink.
The second thing that needs to be said is that the building of the Brandy Distillery expands the architectural ensemble of “Alliance-1892” in the city of Chernyakhovsk, which beginning was marked with the Cognac Museum & Warehouse; also, this building is not the last element in the development of this ensemble.
Now, about the project itself. In the search for the form, we referred to the spirit of this drink and discovered that this is a strong “masculine” drink, that was born in Scotland and, accordingly, its spirit is akin to the Celtic one.
Thus, we concluded, that “HE” should be soldierlike and redoubtable but not without ornament, obviously masculine and in its character. We used these ornaments – ethnic marks on the substrate – the ground on which the building is located, also referring to the drink’s place of origin by the use of black stone – the signature of the Scottish land.
Since the major part of the building is occupied by the technological process, which is not very interesting for viewing and almost does not require human intervention, it is housed in a long solid box – the light well in the roof provides illumination to this part of the building. The central “spectacle” of the production is the distillation process, and it takes place in copper “cubes” which are presented not only to the visitors of the building, but also visible from the side of the Cognac Museum & Warehouse. This space along with the laboratory and the tasting room constitute the head part of the building.