The McWilliam’s Wines administration and laboratory building has been completed, part of an overall winery expansion masterplanned and project managed by Linney Engineering Services. C4 Architects, a collaboration between design professionals in Adelaide, Griffith and Melbourne, was given the task of creating a work environment which would encourage interaction between colleagues.
Bluescope Lysaght cladding was used for the exterior cladding of the building and to expose and emphasise the primary structural steel frame. A portal frame and skillion roof on the building, erected by Buildflex, draws on the industrial aesthetic of the large winery site. It utilises standard shed building techniques that dominate construction in the area.
The interior uses a mixture of traditional linings and natural materials specific to the region, and the layout brings together staff who were previously spread across different sites in separate buildings. Wall and roof cladding was applied over steel framing by Griffith firm, P & L Bellato.
Custom Orb profile was selected for wall cladding to follow a tradition of rural architecture and Spandek profile was used on the roof. Spandek was an effective option for coverage of the large roof areas. Its trapezoidal profile combines strength with lightness, impact resistance, rigidity and economy.
On the McWilliam’s building, the C4 Architects’ design included roof sections above the large foyer and verandahs where the Spandek cladding was combined with polycarbonate sheeting. Light passing through the polycarbonate sheeting in these areas is filtered through perforated sheets of the product’s cladding below, with the two materials fixed close together to maintain the fine line of the skillion roof.
