Heritage Site

The visitor centre was based on a traditional distillery building.
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A revamp of China’s Wen Jun Distillery paid tribute to the site’s cultural significance

Bernard Arnaud, chairman of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH), has famously said that “heritage is the lifeblood of the luxury brand”. The company, which has a portfolio of over 60 prestigious brands, put its money where its mouth was with the 2007 acquisition of the Wen Jun Distillery.

Over 450 years old, the distillery carries the name of Chinese heroine, Zhuo Wen Jun, whose legend dates back 2,000 years. After falling in love with a visiting scholar, Zhuo Wen Jun eloped to Qionglai in the Sichuan Province, where the distillery is now located. The couple renounced their social positions and established a hostelry in the town, where they distilled a famous spirit.

The Wen Jun distillery today uses the same underground water source originally used by Wen Jun – a historical link that no doubt appealed to LVMH’s sentimental sensibilities. “The cultures of Wen Jun and LVMH are perfectly aligned,” suggested Edward Billson, director of Hong Kong-headquartered MAP Architects and Planners, the company responsible for overseeing a complete renovation of the 12 hectare-site after LVMH acquired its 55% stake.

The revamp had to pay tribute to LMVH’s respect for heritage, and be mindful of the distillery’s cultural significance. “MAP competed in an international design competition for the master planning of the heritage renovation of the Wen Jun distillery,” Billson said.

MAP won the competition with a scheme that included a redeveloped administrative precinct, an adjacent visitor centre, a new boiler house for the spirit manufacturing process, a boutique hotel for the entertainment of wholesale guests, a connection between the east and west portions of the site, and associated landscaping.

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The project’s sophisticated, oriental-inspired design language is established from the outset. An entry gate featuring a porte cochére greets guests as cars are ushered into a landscaped courtyard.

A central sculpture depicts Zhuo Wen Jun and her lover Xi Ma, and acts as a striking and immediate reference to the history of the site.

The covered drop off area leads through to a lounge and bar, which are located in a traditional pavilion. A second courtyard provides access to a dining pavilion and a music pavilion, which can also accommodate tea ceremonies.

In a further nod to tradition, surrounding walls are finished in the local red sandstone, while pavilions are finished in traditional grey brick and roofed with grey clay tiles. Timber columns are used to soften the space.

The office precinct represents the largest component of the project. In attempting to remodel the building into a highly modern, stylish office facility, MAP drew on influences as diverse as the Jean Nouvel-designed Cartier Foundation in Paris, and the Art Museum in Fort Worth by Tadao Ando.

Ever mindful of incorporating local influences, MAP “combined the best of eastern and western architecture to develop a design that is European, sophisticated, restrained, efficient and stylish”, Billson explained.