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Architects: Source Architects
- Area: 100 m²
- Year: 2017
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Photographs:TFAD – Tom Ferguson
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Manufacturers: ARAMAX, Carter Holt Harvey, Fielders, Haymes Paint
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Lead Architects: David Sutherland, Sally Sutherland
Text description provided by the architects. Montoro Wines is a young boutique winery based in Orange, NSW which is finding significant success with its range of cool climate Shiraz wines.
Encouraged by this success, the decision was taken to build a cellar door on Montoro’s Cargo Road property, which is uniquely positioned as the first winery outside of Orange towards Cargo, and the start of the well-established wine tasting route.
Montoro were looking to create a special experience for patrons. The Cellar door needed to be more than an outlet for their wines - something that spoke of and reinforced their brand. Importantly, the Cellar Door needed to move away from the archetypal ‘winery in an old shed’ which is a dominant typology in the area, to express the brands contemporary premium status.
The program called for a small tasting space only, in the vein of a private dining space where personal attention was a priority. This had to be balanced against a desire for the Cellar Door to have a presence from the road and a clear identity. The distinctive oversized roofing material selected provided this presence and the orientation to the 2 directions of traffic provided 2 distinct and memorable views of the form.
Conceptually, the building was conceived as a broad platform protected by an oversized roof, sitting in a field of native grasses and wildflowers. The service areas are planned into a sculptural blackened timber clad form with the tasting area occupying the remainder of the platform – the inside and outside a continuous space that bleed together.
The timber form turns its back to the road and the strong winds, with the form curving to draw the visitor onto the platform, introducing the tasting area and the view as the visitor follows the curved form. Once inside the building proper, the timber clad form recedes, further opening up the view and tasting space, leading the visitor to the brass topped tasting bench.
The layout seeks to encourage patrons to linger, to take up residence for the afternoon on the terrace or to sit on the edge of the platform and talk while kids play in the field beyond, and to generally be a part of the beautiful landscape that the building is sharing.
