Design That Fits the Landscape

The Black Hills Estate Winery is among the most prestigious wineries in Canada. HDR’s Penticton team was engaged to design a new winery to replace the previous facilities, which had been housed in a Quonset hut.

The uniqueness of this award-winning winery is its interpretation as a modest industrial building, free of “Disney Imagineering” or Napa imagery. Its character is inspired by programmatic needs and the rigid geometry of the vineyard.

The winery building’s planning strategy is based on organizing a multi-functional workspace around the central crush pad, with connections to the lab, administration areas, fermentation tanks, and barrel storage. Despite its central location, the crush pad is provided with views into the vineyard, connecting the user with the stunning natural context.

The building form celebrates the linear quality of the vineyard. Located at the center of the estate, visitors are encouraged to approach the winery by walking between the vine rows. Once within the building, a view from one side of the vineyard to the other reinforces this linear gesture.

Black Hills Estate is known for its high quality wines, produced in small volumes. The design of their winery is consistent with their wines — honest, straightforward, and intended for a sophisticated palate.

Key features include:

• The building design highlights the character of its location, with its desert climate and picturesque views.
• It’s constructed from a similar palette of materials as the existing winery building, with a steel structure supporting precast concrete panels.
• Interior spaces are softened by the use of wood, and deep overhangs and low-E2 glazing offer relief from the harsh summer sun.
• A pool was added to provide a place to cool off when the heat gets too high, which happens in the Okanagan from time to time.