Location: Beamsville, ON
Architects: Sweeny Sterling Finlayson &Co. Architects Inc. (now Sweeny &Co. Architects Inc.)
Partners in Charge: Dermot Sweeny and Mary Jane Finlayson
Date of completion: 2015
OAA Awards 2016 Design Excellence Finalist

Located in the picturesque agricultural landscape of Beamsvillle, within the fruit belt of the Niagara Peninsula, Redstone winery unites traditional wine-making techniques with state-of-the-art technology to create bio-dynamic, organic wines. Echoing the attention to detail and craft in viniculture, the new Redstone Winery Retail and Hospitality building has been designed to exemplify the winery’s unique spirit – bringing together a simple material palette inspired by traditional farm structures such as natural stone, wood and metal, with state-of-the-art glass, steel and engineered composite wood structural systems.

Photo Credit: doublespace

Inspired by the rich agricultural heritage of southern Ontario, the material palette both acknowledges the past while embracing the future. Reclaimed Ontario barn board is used extensively, both as interior and exterior cladding. Hickory was also incorporated into the interior, recalling its use in the traditional fabrication of farm and hand tools. The stone walls, reminiscent of old barn foundation walls, appear as found objects on the site. Like a memory of the past, transformed and reused, the walls form the primary order of a new architecture.

Photo Credit: doublespace

Featuring state-of-the-art technology, the cross-laminated timber (CLT) slabs incorporate an inverted king-post truss—comprised of stainless steel cables and steel tube posts. The components are connected with precision-machined fittings that provide a visual tracery to the forces at play. The CLT roof slabs were selected primary for their ability to create unobstructed clear spans. Additional contemporary features such as dynamic glass, radiant heating system, and the building automation make Redstone into an unprecedented, innovative addition to Ontario’s wineries.

Photo Credit: doublespace

Built upon the rich agricultural and vinicultural heritage of Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula, Redstone’s architecture is a direct response to the winery’s aspirations, exemplifying through built form the winery’s ambitions of bringing together traditional techniques with state-of-the-art technologies.

To view the complete submission, including additional images and drawings, please click here.

This post (12/20) is part of the OAA Awards 2016 Design Excellence Finalists blOAAg series celebrating the best of Ontario architecture. Every day during the month of March we will be posting a new finalist. You can view all posts by clicking here. Winners will be announced April 1, 2016.