Two years ago, on the Yalta coast, in the Foros region, a sanatorium-resort complex of international class "Mriya", designed by Norman Foster, was opened. Similar to a giant exotic flower, it became the dominant feature of the scenic area and a catalyst for its further development.
According to the customer's plan, a zone of vip-class villas with a restaurant, a cosmetology center, a children's development center and a bath complex should appear to the east of the SKK on the territory of 8.5 hectares, and vineyards and a wine complex to the east, on the territory of 14 hectares. Not wanting to lower the bar, the customer announced an international competition for both concepts. One of the favorites of the competition, included in the shortlist, was a project by Sergei Tsytsin, which we offer to the reader's attention.
The author's attention was focused on two most important tasks: on the one hand, to provide residents with the best natural views, and on the other, to provide them with maximum privacy and visual independence. This is what first of all determined both the internal layout of the villas and the picturesque setting in space. There were several more important factors that influenced the design decision: a rather steep relief drop, an established system of entrances and the preservation of unique vegetation. But the style of the existing buildings was almost decisive.
By the time the competition was announced, there were already two government villas and a “family village” near the Mriya SCC, which gave the designers quite specific imaginative frameworks. They are based on a repeating module in the form of an elongated two-story parallelepiped and a planning technique based on the contrast of the soft outlines of the relief and the angular volumes of the buildings themselves. Sergey Tsytsin took the existing module as a basis and created on its basis several new objects: three "double" villas with the main volumes displaced relative to each other and a children's center, where four modules are "strung" on a common horseshoe-shaped plan.
In my opinion, the authors managed to somewhat soften the obsessive utility of the primary module. The rejection of flat blank walls, a variety of cladding with the use of light stone, the removal of visors - all this gave the new villas a more residential and welcoming look, and the fan-shaped bend of the children's center, repeating the general reception of the "family village", eliminates the slight "barrack flavor" inherent in it.
All three villas are located on different levels, with access to private terraces. A serpentine path leads past them to the beach; in addition to it, the slope is equipped with an underground lift with an exit at an elevation of plus twenty three meters.
The project provides for the creation of a public area for residents of new and existing villas. The mentioned children's center is logically adjacent to the existing playgrounds. An empty cottage building in the north of the site is being converted into a cosmetology center. Finally, in the southernmost part, the authors have designed a bath complex. Located at the foot of the slope and facing the beach, it is separated from the private cluster, planning and architecturally belonging rather to the embankment zone. The authors did not use the general style here and created a completely independent one-story building with a protruding semicircular veranda.
On a nearby hill, surrounded by vineyards, a wine complex is to be located, including a production workshop, a wine cellar, a brand store and a restaurant with a tasting room. Unlike the area of the villas, the shape of the complex is aimed at a harmonious dialogue with the natural landscape.
The building is located on a site with a height difference of almost ten meters and is a multi-level volume of a complex faceted shape, with an obvious reference to the images of the surrounding landscape. However, its architecture is not devoid of a certain expression of its own, different from the idyll of the gentle Crimean mountains.
The authors made the most of the area of the exploited roof, placing a tasting room and viewing platforms here. Thanks to the pass-through lobby-gallery, the building can be accessed from any side and from any level. The gallery acts as a viewing platform and allows guided tours to observe all the key stages of the production chain.
The project involves a gradual ascent to the winery along the slopes of the hill, from where amazing panoramas open, with a phased perception of the architectural plot. “We tried to make the most of the 'architecture of the landscape' with its mountain ledges, panoramic views and decorative comb of the vineyard,” says Sergei Tsytsyn. - Therefore, the stop for the disembarkation of tourists is located at a distance from the winery complex. Here visitors find themselves in a small garden, laid out around the wine center. From here, they need to walk one hundred and fifty meters on a gentle walking path, admiring the beautiful views and perceiving architecture in motion."
Between the two hills, above the road that runs along the bottom of the ravine, there is a sixty-meter pedestrian bridge. Linking the two complexes, it is organically woven into the overall exotic picture, being an integral part of the wine-making center.
