This project was initiated in response to the growing demand for outdoor venues, post pandemic. It was also a forgotten about space located behind the wine tasting center designed for Buitenverwachting a few years earlier.
The brief was to design an outdoor area that guests could relax in, particularly during the colder winter months. It needed to have seating, a bar, and scullery plus ablutions for the growing number of guests on the farm.
The site had two very old sculptural oak trees which we wanted to place an emphasis on. The solution was to build a perimeter seating ledge made from stone collected on site, and separating the courtyard from a vineyard beyond that continues back towards magnificent mountains in the background. The seating ledge steps back towards a cor-ten and shou Sugi ban with the larger oak tree hanging over it. Behind the bar is a feature wall clad in timber shingles. On the opposite side is a large stone fireplace with a planter in the center creating intimate seating areas around it.
