Based on the dual images inherent in Chinese nature and philosophy, architects Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu built the first distillery Pernod Ricard in China — Chuan Malt Whiskey Distillery.

Mount Emeishan in Sichuan Province is one of the sacred places for Chinese Buddhists: there are several ancient temples here, and the area itself is listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. On the territory of the former temple there is also a complex of buildings of the distillery Chuan Malt Whiskey Distillery — a new work of Chinese architects Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu from the bureau Neri & Hu.

Photo: Chen Hao

The picturesque site is located on a mountain slope and is surrounded on three sides by a small river. «The landscape reminded us of the traditional Chinese genre of Shan Shui painting — landscape images contrasting powerful, strong rocks with the fluidity and smoothness of the water flow,» the authors explain. «This duality is also reflected in the architectural solution”» Neri and Hu supplemented their monumental buildings with artificial reservoirs and poetic cascades of water. 

Photo: Chen Hao

Photo: Chen Hao

The architects placed three workshops of the factory in a row in the northern part of the site and gave them the features of traditional Chinese residential buildings. They covered the concrete buildings with tiled roofs, and the rooms themselves were partially cut into the slope, so that from the outside they seem smaller than they really are. Spectacular copper distillers are clearly visible from the outside through fully glazed facades and large side windows. 

Photo: Chen Hao

Photo: Chen Hao

A little lower down the slope there are two buildings of the demonstration center. The first, round in plan and as if composed of concentric cylinders, is opposed to the second, square: in Chinese philosophy, a circle symbolizes heaven, a square — the earth, and together they make up a harmonious whole. To add variety to the appearance of laconic buildings, the architects decorated the facades with concrete blocks of different shapes, the entrance to one of them was lined with uneven stones found during the preparation of the site, and the walls of the courtyard were decorated with brutal corrugation. 

Photo: Chen Hao

Photo: Chen Hao

The internal structure of the circular building resembles a doughnut: in its center there is a domed hall with a skylight, from which water jets fall into a shallow pool. There are five tasting rooms around its perimeter: The sheltered vaulted rooms with soft lighting are decorated as small living rooms with rounded sofas, modernist armchairs and carpets. A meditative walk along the outer walls of the dome, half-hidden underground, will lead visitors to its top, from where they can enjoy views of the distillery and the peak of Mount Emeishan.

Photo: Chen Hao

The architects placed a restaurant and a bar in a square building — their windows overlook the park and the river. In order to bring dynamics into the strict symmetry of the courtyard, the authors «broke» the correct shapes of the stepped fountain and pool with the help of a diagonal staircase and portal. 

Photo: Chen Hao

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