Biophilic Winery Design

The clients for this project – a production winery and accompanying hospitality center set amid the rolling hills of Santa Clara County – asked for a contemporary set of structures that would provide maximum transparency and visual impact, while minimizing carbon footprint. In our design approach, we utilized parametric design strategies – viewed through a lens of biophilic design – to envision a solution that optimizes both architectural form and the primary goal of the living building challenge: regenerative, self-sufficient, decarbonized construction.

Defined by psychologist Eri Fromm in 1964, biophilia refers to the innate connection between human beings and nature. Architects and other designers put biophilia into practice by designing connections to nature into the built environments they envision. Parametric design is a relational design method in which equations establish the relationship between design intent and design response. Playing with form and impacts, the design team is able to experiment, explore and test options quickly and efficiently, while pushing creative boundaries. The results are organic, algorithmically-derived forms with an attention to minimizing carbon impact naturally layered in, and in their naturally-derived solutions, they echo the inherent logic of nature’s own forms.

The elegant solution for this project is a pair of structures that directly relate to one another across the vineyards. The organically-shaped structures are modern and sleek, with large rooflines and the lowest possible embodied carbon footprint. The placement of two softly triangular structures, set at a small distance from one another, was inspired by the big bang theory: the two structures, related but distinct, seem to have exploded apart from one another, landing on opposite sides of the site.

The gently rounded form of the hospitality building hovers above the vineyards, set upon a plinth of rammed earth, semi-recessed to minimize its vertical profile and enhance its connection to the site. Visitors enter via a curving staircase within this central pedestal, emerging onto a second-floor hospitality space surrounded by an expansive open terrace lined with glass guardrails to take full advantage of the surrounding views. The roof’s parametric shape naturally curves inward toward a central oculus, which lights the stairway, as well as the glass elevator that simultaneously meets ADA requirements and provides a dramatic alternate journey to the second-floor hospitality spaces.

Inspired by Frei Otto’s soap film studies, which explored how to achieve strength of form with a minimum of surface area, the arching roofline is made of EFTE – a very lightweight material.  Doubled and filled with an internal pocket of air for insulation, the roof’s petal-like sections are supported by curved glue-lam beams and embedded with printed solar arrays. All building services are incorporated into the floor of the deck, distributing their weight at the lowest possible point.

The production building, set across the vineyards, is designed to straddle the access road. Rather than curving around the building to deliver grapes, vehicles deliver their loads directly through the building to the covered crush pad. The open-air structure utilizes natural convection and airflow for passive cooling.

Design Challenge

The primary challenge for this innovative winery design was to design an elegant, inviting hospitality space and a practical, functional production winery in a way that maximizes their aesthetic appeal, creates a tangible connection to both the natural world and the wine-making process, and optimizes both architectural form and the primary goal of the living building challenge. The focus on utilizing regenerative, self-sufficient, decarbonized construction inspired us to use the opportunities of parametric design, which employs the logic of mathematical equations to establish the relationship between design intent and design response. The resulting forms, derived from a logic inherent in nature, echo the forms we see in the natural world.  Looking to make the biggest impact in the initial design by reducing the weight of the structure, the first question that we asked was from Buckminster Fuller: “How light is your building?”  Our challenge was to utilize the absolute minimum of materials, with a minimum amount of embodied carbon footprint, while maximizing strength and function. Here we were guided by Frei Otto’s soap film studies, (which explored how to achieve strength of form with a minimum of surface area). We chose an ultra-light material – EFTE, a fluorine-based plastic whose specific chemical modification provides a high level of strength and durability – for the arched roof, doubling and filling the lightweight material with air to provide insulation, and embedded the petal-shaped sections with printed solar arrays. Compared to traditional glass or plastic materials, the manufacture of ETFE has a lower impact on the environment, and is easier to dispose of because it can be recycled and reused, fitting with our sustainable vision for the project. Using glue-lam beams also helped to meet the challenge we set for ourselves to minimize our impact. With a strength-to-weight ratio that is greater than steel,  glue laminated beams have a lower carbon footprint than traditional construction materials and are resource efficient, using smaller, younger trees rather than taking older, larger trees out of the environment. To meet the challenges we set for this project, we also employed the following tactics: WATER INNOVATIONS:
  • Water capture and reuse systems
  • Heat loss capture systems
ENERGY CONSERVATION:
  • Unconditioned fermentation areas with convection cooling
  • Embedded PVs within ETFE cushions
  • Wall or façade PV options
SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS:
  • Radiant heated and cooled floors
  • Smartlam GLB wood construction
  • Low carbon concrete and rammed earth
  • Integrated exterior dynamic louvers
HEALTH & HAPPINESS:
  • Biophilic design and transparency to provide a connection to nature
  • Outdoor terraces and shaded areas of respite
EQUITY
  • Universal access to primary entry
  • Community gathering spaces, such as open terraces and gardens
  • Foster personal connections with guests and bolster this newer wine region 
BEAUTY
  • Design inspired by site conditions, river, trees and natural systems

Physical Context

Located in the rolling hills of Santa Clara County, at the southern end of Silicon Valley south of San Francisco, this winery project is set amid 17.5 acres of vineyards. Making his priorities clear, the owner has already implemented organic and biodynamic farming practices. Inspired by the vacant area formed by the vineyards and the dual constraints of the river bank and its fauna, the vision for the placement and form of the winery buildings began to take shape. The winery hospitality building and production winery sit on opposite sides of the vineyards, facing each other across the vine rows. The two buildings are connected by their parametrically-derived massing, their relationship to the vineyards and surrounding natural environment, and their visual, contextual and ideologic connection to one another. The climate and topography of the southern San Francisco Bay Area is mild, and conducive to the indoor-outdoor nature of the winery hospitality structure, as well as the passively-cooled open-air design of the winery production building.