Williams Selyem Winery

This project is a new 30,000 square foot headquarters facility, built for a renowned Sonoma winery known for producing one of the premier Pinot Noirs in the world.  Situated on a spectacular hilltop site overlooking the majestic Russian River Valley, this complex not only satisfies the Owners increasing need for boosting annual production, but most importantly creates an image representative of the brand's "natural and minimalist" approach to winemaking. This philosophy has informed the organic approach to the project's site plan which includes the preservation of natural resources such as 200 year old California oak trees and giant rock outcroppings, as well as informing the sustainable approach to the design

Program

The program called for a new 15,000 square foot wine production area that includes a wine production room and barrel storage rooms (both requiring eighteen foot high ceilings), a loading dock, laboratory, chemical storage area and shops.  The associated 15,000 square foot administrative area program called for a hospitality center, barrel tasting room, wine library and administrative offices.  The final program element, a wine tasting pavilion, will be built in a future phase of construction.

Design

In order to maximize the site's vineyard areas, the new structure has been located on the only area not suitable for planting, a hillside dramatically interspersed with 200 year old oak trees and massive lichen covered rock outcroppings.  In order to reduce the negative impact a monolithic structure of this scale would have had in this setting, the complex has been broken down into three distinct and interconnected structures. Each of these elements responds to existing site pressures in an organic fashion and play separate and unique architectural roles on the site.

Sustainable features include the use of recycled 100 year old oak fermentation tank staves, re-use of on-site stone, use of local materials, a green roof, two separate photovoltaic arrays, super insulated tilt-up concrete panels and embedding the production building in the hillside.