General: New look Cellars, Western Cape

In between the traditional Cape Dutch homesteads that proudly grace the Cape winelands, a new kind of architecture is vying for attention. Fiona McDonald singles out five of the most eye-catching cellars.

 

Visitors to France's Loire Valley or Bordeaux are invariably enchanted by the beautiful, honey-coloured stone chateaux that add an air of genteel elegance to the acres of surrounding vines. History seems to seep from every pore of these buildings.

Contrast this fairytale landscape with the sleek, flowing lines of Chile's Alma Viva winery - all wood and wavy curves - or the quasi Mayan temple that houses Argentina's Catena wines … the most modern that money can buy.

South Africa boasts both kinds of architecture - the traditional curves of historic Cape Dutch gabled homes and, increasingly, the bold beauty of contemporary architecture.

WINE selected five contemporary examples that succeed in synthesising modern forms with the splendour of the natural surroundings: two Graham Beck wineries - the Madeba farm in Robertson and the Franschhoek farm; neighbours Dornier and Waterford in Stellenbosch and the winery with the prime spot atop the Helshoogte pass, Tokara.

Five wineries - four architects, all with different ideas…

"Winery architecture is not easy," confirms Johan Wessels, creator of Graham Beck's wineries. "It's not simply a matter of putting an envelope around the process. It's got to work from the inside and out."

And naturally every project presents its own challenges.

"At Tokara the architects had to work with quite a tricky site," observes winemaker Gyles Webb. "Not only is it at the brow of a hill, it's also very long and narrow."

The soils at Dornier meant the construction team had to do extensive concrete work on the slab before the project gained momentum.

The original plan at Madeba was to set the winery into the koppie with just a curving stone façade as the only external visual trace. "We would have had to blast away half the koppie," says winemaker Pieter Ferreira, "which wasn't a problem since Graham Beck is in the mining game - but time was the issue!"

At the Franschhoek cellar a staircase had to be slightly rerouted to accommodate a work of art Mr Beck had his eye on… and then there was a studded Moroccan door to be incorporated into the exterior.

"But it's okay because the client has got a great eye and good ideas," Johan Wessels says.

And Waterford? Work had to be conducted around the already established citrus grove.

Dornier

Paarl architect Johan Malherbe had the daunting task of interpreting world-renowned Swiss-based artist Christoph Dornier's vision for a winery.

"He had a major influence on the design. The first thing Mr Dornier said was that he didn't want another Cape Dutch building! He wanted 'a special factory'."

The result: flowing modern lines, pared down to the bare essentials, yet with small touches of industrial chic. Glass, stainless steel, anodised aluminium and wood abound.

The roofline was Dornier's concept - along with the pond. When reflected in the pond, the roof creates the shape of a fish…

"It was complicated by the fact that there needed to be a relationship between the old buildings - former home of La Masseria restaurant - and the new winery."
Winemaker Ian Naude jokes that he could get a job as a project manager if winemaking ever palled, having been involved in the construction of Wellington's Linton Park as well as Dornier.

"I had an idea of what I wanted in the cellar - and it was only when Johan Malherbe produced a book on lofts that it gelled. So my cellar is New York loft chic!"

Suspended tanks, bare brick walls, gleaming stainless steel - nothing disturbs the eyeline. There's also no intrusion in the winemaking process as visitors can satisfy their curiousity by peering through the enormous glass windows flanking the central plaza adjacent to the tasting area.

"It all boiled down to the brief," Malherbe says. "It's very easy to fling up an international building but there's got to be context and vernacular. So we had to bring Dornier's ideas and the Cape together.

"And that pervades everything - from the building with its distinctive roofline to the wine label, where that curvature is echoed."

Malherbe says that while the building appears plain, its simplicity masks the complexity of the project - both in terms of the brief and the construction.

"Frank Lloyd Wright always spoke about simplicity in the use of materials - and that's what we strove for."

Naude explains that the reflecting pond was not just for show - it serves to cool the barrel maturation cellar below and can also be used for fire fighting purposes.

"My office is in the eye of the fish," he smiles, "so not only can I see what's happening outside, I've got a panoramic view of what's happening in the cellar - and the other offices."

"When it works well, it's a thrill to see a dream take shape," says Malherbe.

Madeba

About 13 years ago, when Graham Beck's Robertson cellar was first built on Madeba farm, its futuristic lines and atypical colours shocked people.

"It was considered very avant garde - with its sloping green roof, desert peach walls and purple steelwork," Wessels tells. Yet nowadays it reclines comfortably in its environment. It has also grown five-fold from its original 600 ton capacity to 3 000 tons.

"It was supposed to be a specialised sparkling wine cellar of 400 tons with a bit of room for some white wine," Ferreira says. Versatility is the name of the game and additional buildings have retained the style. As Wessels puts it: "We started with the end product… the buildings which are most recent have their roof lines sloping almost to the ground - as though hatching from the earth - and the rooves are painted various shades of green to show that evolution towards the tasting room."

The colours were chosen to reflect those found in the vicinity - the russet earth tones of the Karoo, the dusty green of the fynbos and the purple shades of the vygies that bloom in spring.

"Johan has a very good sense of what space is required," says Ferreira, with his Franschhoek colleague Charles Hopkins concurring.
"He never interfered with what we wanted - he listened to how we'd like the space used."

Tokara

Architects Van Biljon and Visser were tasked with interpreting Rand Merchant Bank supremo GT Ferreira's vision for his winery. "Tokara was great because it was an individual client rather than a corporation," says architect Louise van Riet, "and the client also appreciates good design - right down to the fixtures and finishes."

Like Wessels, the team at Van Biljon and Visser did not want to erect another "white eyesore with a green roof".

"It was a very prominent site and it was important that it fit in without imposing - and yet be true as a new, contemporary winery."

Simplicity was the key with the design incorporating long, simple buildings that were shed-like and thus impacted minimally on the landscape.

"Most of the building is underground - but the landscaping aspect was also very important and was the reason why we involved a landscape architect from the start."

The colour palette was also vital. "A white building would have jumped out so we went with earthy tones and a dark roof."

An interesting developmental and empowerment aspect of this project is that the stonework was done by a team of stonemasons from Lesotho, all under the supervision of a woman - Evelyn Masakhane.

"The design was based on a photo of a rock formation taken in the Moordenaars Karoo," Van Riet reveals. All the masons had a copy of the photo and based their stonework on that.

As with Madeba, Tokara looks a settled and integral part of its environment after only a few years.

Both winemaking consultant Webb and owner Ferreira visited wineries in America and Italy to gather ideas - mainly for the cellar.

"Tokara is a remarkably simple yet versatile cellar," says Webb. From grape offload to the press, gravity is used. "We have any number of options available to us, which is a big advantage. We are not locked into only one process or one way of handling wine. "It's pretty close to a dream cellar," he admits.

The attention to detail evidenced by the sandstone clad-ding was carried throughout the project - right down to the use of specialist carpenters and joiners for the woodwork.

"A great deal of thought went into everything - even the facilities for the workers," Van Riet says. "You don't need the most expensive imported materials - it's about the detailing and workmanship which locals were able to supply."

Foresight also comes into play. The Van Biljon and Visser team incorporated various elements which - while not currently necessary - may come into their own in a few years' time. "The overflow parking area could be used as an amphi-theatre for performances… and power cabling has been supplied to cater for that eventuality."

Waterford

Simplicity was the key to Waterford's design.

Pretoria architect Alex Walker says winemaker Kevin Arnold's input was crucial.

"The brief was for a 500 ton winery to be designed in a Mediterranean meets California Mission style, around a cloistered central courtyard."

When asked about this, Arnold admits the winery was a synthesis of a number of ideas gathered while working at various wineries, particularly Mondavi in California.

"Alex had never worked on a winery before … and probably never will again," Arnold quips. "But we worked well together. He interpreted the brief and vision well and had a great sense of proportion."

The focal point was the emblematic precast concrete fountain now featured on Waterford's labels.

"The concept for the courtyard was to provide a tranquil yet vital area for varied activities related to the winery and the farm as a whole - celebrations, family gatherings, grape reception at harvest and even boulle!" explains Walker.

Arnold felt that by placing the main elements of the winery around a courtyard an easily manageable workflow would be achieved - while simultaneously providing good visual interaction between the winery's various elements.

As with Tokara and the masterplanning of the entire development, Waterford's visual aesthetic is carried through from the stone entrance, past the equipment store which is painted in sympathetic colours and another stone clad building - right up the path through the citrus grove to the entrance, with the fountain visible from the driveway.

Graham Beck, Franschhoek

From the outside, it's ostensibly a basic brick building. Up close you notice the small things - the way Johan Wessels has played with brick surfaces and tones. The brick wall was blasted with high pressure water jets to add texture. The dry stone walling is all slate from the area - reflecting the earthy tones of its vicinity.

The building is essentially a bottling plant - but doubles as Graham Beck's private place, a repository for his art collection, a meeting venue, a functions venue and also offices for the sales and marketing staff.

Winemaker Charles Hopkins is effusive in his praise of the way the space works. "It's so practical," he says.

Wessels felt that the industrial function and movement of a bottling line shouldn't be hidden. Thick glass prevents the noise from filtering through while showcasing a crucial stage of the wine process.

Again, it's the details that matter - like the two Dylan Thomas leopard sculptures that flank the entrance, the two narrow ponds lining the pathway, the chisel work on the ceiling's wood panelling, the imposing entrance door, which gives a quasi-Moroccan or North African feel - but with a peaked roof line reminiscent of an Asian temple!

Wessels doesn't like labels though. "People must never ask me about the style of a building. It's just a merger of the clients' thoughts, the place and the requirements of its functionality."