Wine-growing and producing farm buildings: meta-design analysis for the definition of spatial layouts

Wine production in Italy, among the first in the world in quantitative terms (48.63 ∙ 106 hl in 2008), is characterized by a considerable fragmentation (total vineyard area of 840 000 ha and almost 771 000 wine growing farms, 79% of which smaller than 5 ha) and differentiation at regional level, with regard both to the variety of wines and to production amounts. The present study is part of a wider research dealing with the design of wine-growing and producing farm buildings, with particular reference to the Emilia-Romagna region, among the first ones in Italy as for quantities of produced wine (12.5 % of national production). In this context, wine farms with small to medium productive size, predominantly processing their own grapes, are largely widespread with a marked orientation towards quality and brand productions and a particular attention to the promotion of such local specificities and of their image within the landscape. The peculiarities of functional requirements and of production and marketing processes of these realities, jointly with the investment resources, generally proportioned to the limited farm size, represent the conditions mostly affecting the design of new processing buildings or of the transformation of existing ones. Therefore, the consolidated planning guidelines commonly suitable for industrial wineries, treated in several technical and scientific papers, are not directly applicable to the above-mentioned typologies of farms, which call for the definition of focused planning standards. The study aims to define and validate a specific meta-design process for the considered typologies of wine-growing and producing farms, suitable to lead to the definition of possible layout solutions optimized in terms of production requirements. In particular, the attention is focused on the design of buildings that host all the spatial units functional to the processing and marketing activities. Within the Emilia-Romagna region, a study area is considered, defined basing on the importance and representativeness of the wine sector. The analysis methodology is based on the meta-design approach, proposed by several authors as an effective path for the definition of functional and layout solutions for agro-industrial buildings. Basing on the analysis of the wine-growing and producing sector and of the normative-technical context of the study area, we proceeded to the breakdown of the production process into the main functional sections, for which every single phase was identified, together with the specific elementary activities and the respective operations carried out by workers, considering the labour features and the necessary facilities. The performed analyses led firstly to the definition of the appropriate functional areas to be considered in building design, through the identification of the operational requirements and the systems of activities and functions spatially and temporally associated and compatible with each other. Then the aggregation of functional areas according to homogeneous requirements, intrinsic to the transformation process, led to define the spatial units composing the different sections of the building and to the schematization of possible layout solutions.