Completed in 2022 by K-Studio, the project revives a century-old vineyard, presenting LIKNON, a captivating initiative conceived to reestablish the deep-seated connection of the Metaxa brand to its origins in Samos. This meticulously designed project beautifully amplifies the link between Metaxa’s rich heritage and its exceptionally fortified sweet Muscat wine.
Liknon Technical Information
- Architects1-13: K-Studio
- Location: Vourliotes, Samos, Greece
- Topics: Museums, Stone Construction, Wineries
- Area: 380 m2
- Year of Completion: 2022
- Photographs: © Nikos Daniilidis, © Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann
In LIKNON, the vine is the protagonist, and the traditional concept of a building dissolves into a walkthrough and an exploration around the vine’s habitat.
– K-Studio
Liknon Photographs
LIKNON: A Celebration of Metaxa’s Heritage
With the goal of strengthening the Metaxa brand’s connection to its heritage, K-Studio introduces LIKNON, a testament to the past situated in a century-old vineyard on Samos. This island, steeped in rich culture and an extensive tradition of producing high-quality goods and wines, forms the perfect backdrop for this project.
The brand’s decision to cast a nostalgic glance backward is a celebration of its roots, its unique products, and the core ingredient that sets it apart—the fortified sweet muscat wine. This journey into the past is aimed at shaping a promising future.
This narrative is only fittingly unveiled in the same ancient vineyard where Spyros Metaxa crafted his exquisite spirits, imbued with the aromatic profile of sweet muscat grapes—a regional specialty of Samos.
The vineyard sprawls down a valley below the traditional village of Vourliotes, nestled 800m above sea level and exposed to the northern meltemi wind. Over time, the landscape has been sculpted into a series of stone wall-held plateaus. This productive terrain, formed by artful positioning of on-site rocks, tamed the slope into terraces for cultivation.
Keen on anchoring firmly to this history, K-Studio’s proposal sought to highlight and preserve the terraced landscape’s key features. They devised a route along the stonewalls and placed discrete enclosures within the existing landscape. Rather than erecting a conventional building, they integrated structures into the terraced valley, using the pre-existing topography as a guide to lead visitors through a curated, immersive experience.
The design brief for a brand home encompassed more than just a location; it was to serve as a physical embodiment of Metaxa’s values, history, and heritage. It aimed to create an immersive journey into the vine’s environment, offering guests a deep understanding of the brand’s past, its trajectory, and its distinguishing elements. The design’s purpose was to amplify the enjoyment of being in this unique setting and appreciating the complex aromas and character that define Metaxa.
Visitors are invited to discover the vineyard’s many facets, from production processes to the ultimate pleasure of enjoying the final product at a finely set table.
The journey is punctuated by three key structures, each symbolizing a unique facet of the experience.
TOPOS (place), the first checkpoint, is a dramatic traverse through the stonewalls and a reinterpretation of the pre-existing paths connecting the terraces. Here, the visitor is led underground into a space rich with the earthy scent of argillite. A unique feature of this space is a bespoke glass section revealing the full growth cycle of the plant, from roots to the above-ground body. This museum-like exposition makes palpable the terroir’s impact on the product’s quality.
The next stop is CHRONOS (time), symbolic of the fruit aging process after the harvest, now embodied in a Metaxa cellar. Here, visitors can taste the evolution of the products over time, from fresh grape to fermented beverage, while exploring variations in color and taste. This space is an aromatic and textural immersion, where one can experience the essence of a 40-year aging process.
The journey concludes at the Metaxa Bar, an inviting space to unwind and sample the brand’s premier distillations. An outdoor terrace, complete with a vine-woven pergola, enhances the experience, serving up Samos’ culinary delights that encapsulate the artisanal craftsmanship and convivial spirit integral to Metaxa.
The exploration unfolds among the vines, both above and underground, closely engaging with the elements that define the terroir. The architectural design subtly integrates into the vineyard environment, manifesting in various configurations around the guest.
Liknon Plans
Liknon Image Gallery
About K-STUDIO
K-STUDIO is a design practice rooted in architecture, guided by a contextual approach that produces unique and immersive experiences through architecture, interior design, and hardscape design, allowing for the achievement of a holistic sense of experience across the range of spatial qualities within every project. This approach is applied to any scale of project and allows K-Studio to treat larger scale, more complex works as collections of smaller studies, creating expansive systems for design with greater clarity, definition, and attention to detail.
Notes & Additional Credits
- Design team: Dimitris Karampatakis, Christos Spetseris, Stavros Kotsikas, Marina Leventaki, Achilleas Pliakos, Argyris Mavronikolas, Arianna Mechili, Dimitris Eleftheriadis, Myrsini Ziogou, Christina Charistou, Konstantinos Stergiopoulos, Natassa Kallou, Thalia Sachinidi, Antonis Tzortzis
- 3d visualization: Bakagiannis Pavlos
- Branding designer: Daphne Stathis
- Project management: Conjekt
- Surveyor: Georgoudis Michalis, Palaiokastritis Yannis
- Planning consultant: Palaiokastritis Yannis
- Structural consultant: Elliniki Meletitiki – Aggelos Ladas
- Mechanical engineer: Conap – Andreas Psaroudakis
- Lighting designer: Last – Lighting Architecture Studio, Aris Klonizakis
- Landscape designer: Fytron – Petsagourakis Michalis
- A/V Consultant & Supplier: Panou Systems
- Kitchen consultant: Xenex, Inoxland
