Booker Vineyard
Our brief for this small winery hospitality structure set in the hills of western Paso Robles was to design a space to gather that would embody the ethos of the winery’s distinctive brand and the charismatic personality of its founder/winemaker. The vineyard and winery are named after the site’s original owners – who had dedicated their lives to being great farmers, humanitarians and stewards of the land. Our client wanted to honor and carry on that legacy of stewardship, while making his own mark on the Paso Robles wine country. In our design approach, we took our cue directly from our client – a self-professed minimalist – and his belief that a fanciful winery and expensive gadgetry do nothing to make a wine – or a place – better.
Our goal was to design a space that embodies the winemaker’s minimalist winemaking philosophy – his commitment to interfering with the land as little as possible and letting it speak through his wines – with a transparent, deeply integrated indoor/outdoor approach that sits lightly on the land, and provides a casual, welcoming atmosphere for visitors that reflects his great love of entertaining. When our client first approached us, he told us he simply wanted a place in the vineyard to gather. Essentially, he said, he wanted a terrace and trellis. So that’s exactly where we started.
Inspired by the visible fractures in the area’s chalky limestone soil, (which also inspired one of the brand’s labels), we studied the patterns created by those fractures. The patterns then became the basis for laying out the walls. Set at an angle to the vineyard, the long lines of the walls are oriented toward downtown Paso Robles in the distance, framing the views.
The hospitality experience is arranged to create a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces. Elevated to enhance the views but designed with flat roofs so as not to compete with the rolling hills, the simple concrete structures — open on three sides — are straightforward and unassuming, lifted above the vineyards without dominating them. The buildings are comfortable and residential in scale – essentially an extension of our clients’ home located a just short distance up the hill. The secondary terrace faces directly toward the view of downtown Paso Robles, while the main terrace is all about the land. The vineyards come down the hillside toward this terrace, immersing visitors in the vines. From a distance, the small structures seem like islands floating in a sea of vineyard rows.
For the material palette, we used no more than what was needed: cedar, stained in a natural finish, board-formed concrete, glass, and natural steel that will rust over time, much like the stakes set at the end of each vine row. We crushed and reused the limestone extracted to create the caves, spreading it throughout the landscape. A cave for VIP tastings, tucked underneath the small structures to provide yet another distinct experience, also integrates the region’s chalky limestone topography into the design.