PHANTOM CREEK WINERY

Phantom Creek winery is located within a 60-acre vineyard on British Columbia’s Black Sage Bench, a celebrated wine-growing sub-region of the South Okanagan, home to the Okanagan’s oldest vineyards.

A winery had unsuccessfully been attempted on this site once before and, when the property was purchased by a new owner who envisioned converting the vineyards to biodynamic and setting a benchmark in Canadian viticulture and winemaking, the skeleton of an unfinished production building became a key organizing feature and base upon which the architectural and landscape designs, literally and figuratively, were built. This, along with the surrounding vineyard slopes and dramatic views, informed the layout of major program elements.

Integrating principles of biodynamic agriculture into the landscape design of the winery’s production and hospitality buildings initially seemed as simple as incorporating an organic maintenance specification. Yet, through the design process, many philosophical intersections emerged, and the project brought a new understanding of biodynamic agricultural methods and their potential to inform design, management, and maintenance practices in landscape architecture.

Awards: 

2024 National Award of Excellence - Medium-Scale Public Landscapes Designed by a Landscape Architect (1 to 5 ha)

Canadian Society of Landscape Architects