KPMB Architects

Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate Winery

Location: Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Size: 43,000 s.f.
Completion: 2001

Over the last few decades, the winery district of the Niagara Peninsula in Southern Ontario has significantly improved the quality of its wine and has grown into an important tourist destination. The Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate Winery created an opportunity to merge contemporary wine-making technologies with an authentic architectural response to the region, and marked a significant departure from the convention of local wineries to mimic more traditional European chateau and bodega typologies.

The design, inspired by the French notion of terroir, embodies geographic characteristics and agricultural typologies of Southern Ontario. The simple, extended horizontal barn-like form is sited parallel to the Escarpment to maximize exposure to north and south light. Production and hospitality functions are united under a continuous roof supported by full-span wood trusses. A two-storey Great Hall creates a common space between the working winery and hospitality facilities. Materials (stone, wood, and steel) are left in their natural state, with finishes restricted to clear sealers. The building is framed in structural steel and clad in oversized cement board panels (clapboard). Exterior walls reinterpret the local vernacular of fieldstone bases with the substitution of low-cost, discarded strata from the regional quarry beds of Owen Sound at the northern tip of the Niagara Escarpment.

Since opening, this project has also been recognized as a ‘watershed’ project for demonstrating that "a building can be architecturally ambitious while being a real [energy] performer." (Canadian Architect, January 2006). The overall footprint is minimized by locating barrel cellars, storage and warehouse facilities in the basement level below the Fermentation Cellar and public spaces. The substantial overhang of the roof eliminates excessive solar gain, and operable windows provide for naturally ventilated spaces, eliminating the need for mechanical cooling requirements through summer months. Mechanical systems are limited to one cooling plant that provides both air-conditioning and process cooling to respond to varying seasonal requirements.

The section facilitates gravity flow for the wine-making process, a significant factor in the making of premium wine. The gravity flow system also determined the choreography of the winery tour, allowing visitors to follow the process of 'grapes to wine' while keeping production separate from public access.

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