fbpx
Home / Design  / This beautiful design… Dominus Estate

This beautiful design… Dominus Estate

David Maurice of Ltd Architectural recently won at the Regional ADNZ/Resene Architectural Design Awards for his elegant design of a Duncansby Road house in Red Beach, Auckland. David kicks off our series of leading designers sharing about a piece of architecture that’s left them inspired.?

“I remember seeing Herzog and De Meuron’s Dominus Estate winery (in Napa Valley, California) for the first time shortly after I started uni. What struck me was how powerful a strong, singular, well executed idea could be. The result is architecture that conveys a huge sense of identity and presence. The building’s performance and function (in a hot climate) is inseparably bound to it’s aesthetic attributes, and the nature of the building is understood from both inside and out.

“For me the inspiring thing is not just how the building looks but that it’s a powerful expression of an idea about how to build in a certain place.”



Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron completed the Dominus Estate winery in 1997, commissioned by famed wine producer Christian Moueix. 

The use of local basalt in varying shades of dark green to black create dappled light through the winery’s gabion walls. Beautiful to the eye, functional to the entire building; the stones act as insulation against Napa Valley’s sweltering conditions in the day and cold temperatures at night.

Surf, design, travel – these are the things that gets Leigh out of bed every morning (those, and a piping hot cup of milky tea). She holds qualifications in both fashion design and communications, and has written a bunch of fashion, beauty, food, travel and design stories.

Review overview