Texas architecture studio Clayton Korte has completed a Corten steel-clad structure for storing vineyard equipment at a winery on the Central Coast of California.
The 4,315-square-foot (400-square-metre) barn serves a 150-acre vineyard in Cayucos, a town in California's Santa Lucia Range. The barn sits between a working Syrah vineyard to the west and an oak forest to the east.
A simple plan with a gabled roof, the structure serves as a mediator between cultivated and natural landscapes.
"The structure opens westward with broad bays that frame the vineyard and tie the building directly to the daily rhythm of harvest and cultivation, while the forested hillside grounds it to the east," Clayton Korte principal Brian Korte told Dezeen.
The plan is organised around functionality for farm operations. Sliding doors at each end allow for easy mobility, while five bay doors open for manoeuvring equipment and work as cover for a generous porch area for outdoor work.
To accommodate the rural, off-grid site for wildfire, the studio clad the wood-framed structure entirely in weathering steel – corrugated on the roof and long sides and smooth on the short sides – that will resist fires, age gracefully and reduce long-term maintenance.
"Materials for a barn need to be practical, robust and not too precious, while also bringing their own authenticity and simple elegance to a structure," Korte said.
"They are honest and perform the dual task of serving both structural requirements and architectural finishes in many cases."
"The foggy marine layer that rolls through this landscape becomes part of the architecture, deepening the steel's natural patina over time so the building settles into, rather than stands apart from, the vineyards and hillsides around it."
Mesh screens extend out of the gabled ends, finishing out the building's profile with a translucent film and complementing the sliding doors that were salvaged from the local Saxum Winery.
Inside, the wooden frame and raw plywood panelling were left exposed to allow for the building's use to be adapted over time, and the fluted-glazed overhead doors provide an unexpected detail to the agricultural structure, washing the interior in daylight while keeping the form simple and utilitarian.
"In a project like this, it's the small moves that matter most – subtle shifts in orientation, material transitions and moments of openness that create a deeper dialogue with the land," said Clayton Korte senior architect Josh Nieves.
"Nothing is loud, but everything is deliberate."
Operating entirely off-grid, the barn's photovoltaic panels charge an on-site battery bank that manages lighting and power for operations, eliminating any reliance on external utilities.
"Sustainability isn't just about systems – it's about restraint and respect," Korte said.
"By building off the grid, using reclaimed elements and allowing materials to weather naturally, we let the structure quietly support the land rather than compete with it."
Clayton Korte, which has offices in Austin and San Antonio and was formerly known as Clayton & Little, has worked on wineries across California and Texas.
In the last few years, the 25-person studio has completed a pair of polycarbonate and steel buildings for Fulldraw Vineyard and a breezy, weathering steel barn for the Saxum Vineyard, both in Paso Robles, California, as well as a wine cave embedded in limestone outside of Austin.
The photography is by Casey Dunn and Ray Castro.
Project credits:
Architecture: Clayton Korte
Project team: Brian Korte, Josh Nieves
General Contractor: Woulbroun Construction Inc.
Structural Engineer: Buehler
Civil Engineer: Walsh Engineering
Planner: Kirk Consulting
Owner: Saxum Vineyards