On the southern slopes of Padi Hill in Rátka, the Sauska Tokaj Winery sets hospitality spaces within two lens-shaped volumes that appear to hover above the vineyards. At the same time, production areas are embedded in the hillside. The project couples an elevated public realm that surveys the UNESCO-listed Tokaj-Hegyalja landscape with earth-sheltered winemaking halls that stabilize climate, minimize ground disturbance, and maintain a restrained visual presence across the viticultural terrain.
Sauska Tokaj Winery Technical Information
- Architects1-12: BORD Architectural Studio
- Location: 3908 Rátka, Padi-hegy, Hungary
- Gross Area: 5,830 m2 | 62,754 Sq. Ft.
- Project Years: 2014 – 2024
- Photographs: © Hufton + Crow
What I create should not touch the untouchable: it should float or sit, like a sphere on an unidentifiably tiny surface. The goal is to create a seemingly implausible structure, one that is there, yet physically independent of its surrounding environment.
– Péter Bordás, BORD Architectural Studio Head Architect
Sauska Tokaj Winery Photographs
Context and Site Strategy
The project reads the Tokaj-Hegyalja landscape as both a resource and a constraint. By lifting the public program above the vineyard rows and embedding production into the slope, the building sidesteps the visual mass that often accompanies contemporary wineries. The elevated siting on Padi Hill secures expansive regional views while maintaining a light footprint at ground level. Production spaces sink into the volcanic tuff, aligning with centuries-old practices of subterranean storage yet reinterpreting them through clear spatial zoning and controlled exposure.
Massing and orientation reference historic settlement patterns formed along valley lines and contour breaks. The longitudinal axis calibrates openings toward prevailing vistas and solar paths, while the hovering volumes avoid cutting across vine alignments or service rows. This strategy keeps tractor circulation and viticultural maintenance unobstructed and reduces earthworks. The architecture, therefore, negotiates between territorial scale and precise site operations, offering an elevated terrace experience that sits apart from, rather than within, the cultivated ground.
Massing, Structure, and Spatial Geometry
Two intersecting lens-shaped volumes, each spanning 36 meters, generate the public realm. Their edges taper, and a recessed base supported by slender steel columns intensifies the perception of levitation. The thinness at the perimeter performs as a continuous overhang that both shades glazing and visually detaches the lenses from the slope. Structural supports are organized to recede into shadow, so the reading of an airborne form remains intact at approach and from distant vantage points across the valley.
Below grade, a circular plan orders the fermentation halls with concentric rings of stainless steel tanks wrapped around a central barrel zone. The figure is legible to visitors and efficient for cellar operations, compressing distances for monitoring and cleaning while exploiting the earth’s thermal inertia. Entry sequencing extends the geometric logic above: a discreet incision in the terrain leads to a low threshold, followed by a skylit corridor that releases into double-curved ceilings. These ceilings narrow toward the horizon so the eye tracks outward, aligning body and view before the terrace reveals the wider topography.
Program and Operations
The scheme separates functions by altitude. Hospitality and gastronomy occupy the elevated lenses where the experience is outward-looking. Fermentation, storage, and barrel aging are optimized for thermal stability and process control. A connected rectangular bay consolidates pressing, bottling, and labeling, keeping linear equipment and vehicular access on a single plane. This reduces cross-traffic and preserves clear sanitation boundaries between grape intake and finished product handling.
A longitudinal service tunnel runs the length of the complex to manage grape arrival, dispatch, and mechanical distribution. It decouples logistics from visitor paths, allowing uninterrupted tours and dining while production continues in parallel. The approach path and terrace act as a didactic promenade: framed views track from vine scale to regional panorama, making the geography of Tokaj present in each programmatic step. The building thus choreographs a reading of the territory alongside the sequence of making and tasting.
Materiality, Atmosphere, and Environmental Logics
Interior finishes in the public areas balance tactile warmth and durability. Natural wood, local limestone, and precise steel detailing reference regional craft without mimicry. The cellar communicates process with a different register: exposed stainless steel, robust lighting, and washable surfaces foreground hygiene and efficiency. The contrast between the metallic, process-oriented undercroft and the quieter, mineral-and-wood volumes above makes the vertical stratification palpable to visitors.
Environmental performance is embedded in placement and section. Earth-sheltered production spaces moderate temperature swings and reduce cooling loads, while the lifted lenses minimize ground disturbance and create self-shading eaves. Daylight grazes the undersides of the hovering forms, articulating curvature and aiding orientation on the terrace. Inside, controlled apertures and the narrowed ceiling geometry limit glare toward the horizon, improving visual comfort. The result is an architecture that leverages geology, section, and light to calibrate atmosphere and reduce operational energy without resorting to overt technical display.
Sauska Tokaj Winery Plans
Sauska Tokaj Winery Image Gallery
About BORD Architectural Studio
Founded in 2006, BORD Architectural Studio is based in Budapest with additional offices in Debrecen and Zurich. Led by Péter Bordás, the practice focuses on crafting inspiring, timeless spaces that feel relaxing and refreshing while advancing novel, site-responsive design. The studio’s approach addresses both the broader urban fabric and the immediate context, supported by in-house HVAC engineering and landscape architecture divisions and a strong commitment to sustainability.
Credits and Additional Notes
- Head Architect: Péter Bordás
- Coordinating Architect: Csilla Kracker
- Architect Team: Robert György Benke, Fruzsina Damásdi, Róbert Gulyás, Ágota Melinda, Keresztesi-Angi, András Kéki, Balázs Móser, Györgyi Püspöki, Tamás Tolvaj, Kata Zih
- Client: Sauska and Partner
- Structural engineers: Hydrastat Engineering; Zsigmond Dezső
- MEP consultants: BORD HVAC Engineering; Zoltán Hollókövi
- Landscape designers: Gardenworks; András Kuhn
- Other contributors:
- Interior Design: Tihany Design (Alessia Genova, Principal; Adam D. Tihany, Founder)
- Photography: Hufton + Crow
- Video: SoulCase Studio
- Expert contractor: Barry B. Britton
