Open Architecture Network

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The design intention was to nestle the large spaces of the winery into the hill. The site was terraced and most of the building is sunken below ground to acquire thermal mass and passive cooling for the activities that required cool and stable temperatures; for eg the Vat cellar and fermentation cellars are underground yet achieve adequate natural daylight to minimise electricity consumption. The buildings are concpetualised as rural barns read in the landscape with a particular scale traditional to the Cape farms.The process spaces areconnected thrugh a circulation element that takes the inhabitants through the building on an experiential joourney that introduces first time visitors to the process of wine making. For the every day occupants, offices are provided with views out over the landscape; yet providing glimpses and views into the fermentation cellar. There is continuously a play on separation and connectedness,between the public and private dimesions of the building.The materials include natural stone used from the site, built in terraced walls that with the deep shaded verandahs, (with their reed ceilings) keep the buildings cool.