Southbrook Vineyard
Diamond and Schmitt Architects
Jury Comments: The project is less a building than a landscape pavilion and garden wall that fits beautifully with the orientation of the planted vineyards. A fully-glazed wall on the east brings in natural light, and rain water storage occurs in retention ponds that are expressive and fully integrated with the building design. The building details are beautiful, the building owner is to be commended for achieving LEED Gold while also operating the only bio-dynamic vineyard in North America that also includes a wetland for waste water treatment.
The design of this 850m2 pavilion, set among the vineyards in the heart of Ontario’s wine country, is as much about landscape as it is about architecture. The building has two contrasting aspects: a 200m-long landscape wall with a single entry on the west side, and on the east side a floor-to-ceiling glass façade.
The project has achieved a 50% reduction in energy through a high-performance envelope and high efficiency mechanical equipment. Deep roof overhangs shade the building, and white reflective roofing reduces the heat island effect. The west side is mostly solid wall to minimize solar exposure, and motorized blinds operate on the east side to reduce glare.
More than half of the waste water is treated on-site by directing it through cells containing filtering media that clean to a tertiary standard before release to the surrounding soil. Reflecting pools at the west side entrance are fed by roof rain water.
Credits:
- Client Southbrook Farms Ltd.
- Architect Diamond and Schmitt Architects
- Structural Engineer Blackwell-Bowick Partnership
- Mechanical Engineer Crossey Engineering Ltd.
- Electrical Engineer Crossey Engineering Ltd.
- Landscape Architect du Toit Allsopp Hillier
- Civil Engineer MMM Group
- General Contractor Merit Contractors
- Photos Tom Arban
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