Alventosa Morell Arquitectes, Barcelona/Lleida, Spain

El Trull CV in Les Garrigues, Spain

Barcelona - Spain - 2023

An oil mill nestled amongst the olive groves

In the middle of the centuries-old olive groves of the Catalan region of Les Garrigues, El Trull CV is an oil mill that blends almost seamlessly into the hillside terraces which dominate the landscape. The concept from Alventosa Morell Arquitectes saw around 90% of the building disappear below ground level. Only the reception area with its wide panoramic views remains as a visible structure. Glazing and doors with profile systems from Forster ensure a filigree, transparent link between the interior and exterior spaces. Visually, it seems as if the massive concrete roof is resting on the delicate glass facade alone. Its curved contour picks up on the organic lines of its surroundings.

thermfix vario Facades, unico Windows and unico Doors - El Trull CV in Les Garrigues, Spain located in Barcelona, Spain

Green roofs with native vegetation and olive trees make the building visually blend into the terrace landscape.
Image source: Adrià Goula

Material from own excavations

The name “El Trull CV” refers both to the origin and function of the building: “El Trull” simply means “the oil mill” in Catalan, while the abbreviation “CV” stands for the “Cuadrat Valley” estate on whose terraces the building was built. Olive trees have been growing on the dry stone terraces of this 70-hectare estate for generations. For the production of organic olive oil, the architects planned a building that does not obscure the character of this landscape, but rather carries it on. The unused hilltop with its fragile dry-stone walls provided the ideal starting point for this, as the excavated rock was used to restore the historic terrace walls that now form the facade of the mill. The roofs, in turn, have been covered with greenery and planted with native vegetation and olive trees, so that the building hardly differs from the surrounding terrain when viewed from above.

The large-surface glass facade made of steel with profiles from the forster thermfix vario system opens up the tasting room to the surrounding olive landscape while also providing the necessary heat insulation.
Image source: Adrià Goula

Visible window to the landscape

While the actual production facilities of the oil mill are largely hidden underground, a single structure provides the building’s presence above ground: a reception and sales room with a tasting area offering a 360-degree view of the olive groves to the distant mountains of Montsant and the Pyrenees. A large-surface glass facade with the forster thermfix vario steel profile, which is only 45 mm wide, connects this space to the landscape and at the same time provides the high level of heat insulation required for cool oil production. Doors and fixed glazing from the forster unico system complement the facade at other transitions to the outside space and emphasise the minimalist, clear design approach of the building with their slim profile faces.

Slim doors and fixed glazing made of steel in the forster unico system complement the facade at other transitional areas to the outside space.
Image source: Adrià Goula

Consistent coolness provided by rock and the building envelope

Cold pressing requires around 18 degrees Celsius, both in summer and winter. The building envelope is also essential in maintaining this consistency. While the natural storage mass of the surrounding rock thermally stabilises the production rooms, the highly thermally insulated profiles from forster thermfix vario prevent the large glass surfaces from becoming a thermal weak point. As a result, operation can be carried out with virtually no active air conditioning. El Trull CV thus combines traditional knowledge of the landscape with contemporary construction technology and shows how a production facility can unobtrusively become part of a terrain which has grown over centuries.