Petaluma Winery needed a cellar door to accompany a brand-new winery, built on a vineyard owned by the company at Woodside, Adelaide Hills. Ideally located at the highest point on the site and with an historic association with the head vigneron, the original homestead was adapted for its new purpose.

The brief was to design a venue, where the wine could be appreciated with complementary food, and where the essence of Petaluma can be absorbed.The basic rectangular floor plan was opened up with the demolition of all internal walls and ceilings. Only the existing fire places were left to gradate spaces of increasing specialisation.

Visitors arrive on the summit side of the building and are guided by a projecting rammed earth wall through a portal, formed by the old carport which is clad in dark profiled steel. The wall is formed using earth from Petaluma’s three main growing districts; the Clare Valley, the Adelaide Hills and Coonawarra. Once inside the view of a vineyard clad valley opens up beyond a broad timber deck.

The back of house area is screened by a wall clad in back lit French oak riddling racks, taken from the original Piccadilly cellars, to create the desired unique refined and elegant cellar door experience.

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"This project is a good example of the re-purposing of an existing small rural residential building into a new Cellar Door showcasing Petaluma Wines within a minimal budget and tight development constraints." - Jury Citation, 2017 AIA (SA) Commendation for Commercial Architecture