Monte Creek Winery

Monte Creek, 2021

The 15,000 square-foot production facility at Monte Creek Winery is designed from the ground up with sustainability in mind. It starts with a gravity flow philosophy, where levels of production cascade down the hill to allow natural forces to move the wine, rather than pumps. The building is earth sheltered to maximise natural earth cooling, like a cave, and this is augmented by drawing all ventilation air through a 50-metre long earth tube, which pre-tempers the air to a constant temperature in all seasons. The building is designed to operate passively for most of the year, with opening windows at high level to create natural convection, and flood the workspaces with diffused natural light. The heating and mechanical systems are ultra-efficient, and what little energy input they demand will be provided by 165 solar panels mounted above the crush pad. Much like the wine that is produced inside, the building harvests the natural inputs of the sun and the earth.

design by Landform Architecture