Visi – July 2019

NO

22

PHOTOS

NINA ZIMOLONG PHOTOGRAPHY

WORDS

AMELIA BROWN

INTO THE LIGHT

Architect Julia Gaiduk was the guiding force behind the striking renovation of

Quoin Rock winery, restaurant and event venue in Stellenbosch.

When the Gaiduk
family bought Quoin
Rock in 2012, the first
order of business
was to focus on the
wines. Denis Gaiduk,
son of the owner
and MD, spent four years working with
a new team to replant vine yards and
modernise the cellar. Eager for the
venue to reflect the elegant wines they
were making, he turned to his wife Julia
for the renovation.
Julia began with the wine lounge,
which doubles as the dining area of the
fine-dining restaurant Gåte, by lifting
black tiles and demolishing walls. Now,
two walls of frameless glass stacking
doors let in an abundance of light and
make the most of the views.
For the egg-shaped wooden bar
counter at the centre of the room, Julia
worked with Pierre Cronje to realise her
design, which includes curved LED light
troughs that reflect how the wine
circulates in the tanks. Pierre Cronje
also created vine archways and chairs.

To instate a theatrical entranceway

befitting a restaurant that offers

a 16-course tasting experience loaded

with molecular-gastronomy surprises,

Julia devised tiered arch ways that

double as a water feature and, at night,

a magical lit-up portal. In the entrance

hall, a large bronze vine by Charles

Haupt of Bronze Age reaches to the

ceiling, symbolically encased in water

to create one composition.

But perhaps the most impressive

archi tectural feat is the trans formation

of a ware house adjacent to the winery

into a 200-person event venue. Julia

connected the buildings with a pergola

• a semi-floating metal I-beam structure
  filled with laser-cut panels. The shadow
  pattern it casts looks like dappled light
  falling through vine leaves. One of the
  shed’s brick walls was demolished to
  make place for a glass wall of steel
  columns and stacking doors.
  And for the Venue Hall extension
  Julia designed a steel frame structure
  that serves to connect the building’s
  two parts – brick and steel – and
  emphasise its grand proportions.
  Columns repeat the frame at different
  intervals, giving an otherwise minimalist
  entrance a definitive stance. Clad in
  tinted glass, the building is absorbed by
  the beautiful landscape and becomes
  a mirror for it and all the events it will
  be witness to.
  quoinrock.co.za

visi.co.za JUNE/JULY 2019 168

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