Beyond Ink : Cellar Door and Restaurant Design, Council Planning
Verdun, South Australia
Grünthal is Adelaide Hills’ newest tourism destination (not to mention a new ‘Beyond Ink drinks’ destination), located in Verdun in South Australia. Home to Grünthal Microbrewery, Udder Delights Cheese Cellar, Hesketh Wines and Grünthal Gin, this building wears a lot of hats! This cellar door integrates a myriad of needs into one building, including a restaurant, cheese cellar, winery cellar door, microbrewery, masterclass & function space and the outdoor dining area. The design provides the space and flexibility to showcase all Grünthal has to offer.
This cellar door sits at the gateway to Hahndorf and was home to the much-loved Grumpy’s Brewhaus for 20 years. Sadly, the building was destroyed by fire in 2016. Beyond Ink was approached by the new landowners to help to give new life to this legendary site in 2018.
Obtaining Development Approval was not without its challenges. The zoning combined with the flood plain meant that any redevelopment of this site was going to be a journey. The solution was to mimic the footprint of the former Grumpy’s Brewhaus while also raising the floor level to mitigate any risk of flooding.
The beautiful sandstone (swoon) was able to be repurposed from the Grumpy’s wreckage, providing a meaningful connection between past and present. The walls were expertly crafted by the landowners, who happen to be masters of stone! The design adapted and flexed along the way as the stone walls rose from the ground, to keep up with the changes Beyond Ink managed variations required to approvals along the way. Incorporate a salvaged feature window? Sure! No longer a need for mezzanine dining? Got it covered!
Enter Sheree and Saul Sullivan. We were so excited to learn that this would now be the new home of the Udder Delights Cheese Cellar as well as Sheree and Saul’s newest big ideas. The vision for the site solidified and it became clear that more spaces were needed to accommodate the cheese cellar, masterclass and function space.
The additions to the building were designed, and further approvals managed through Council. Careful consideration was taken to maintain a visual cohesion between the ‘original building’ now dubbed “The Great Hall” and the conservatory function space. The raised floor level had the happy advantage of providing a stunning view across to the Onkaparinga River from the conservatory and the outdoor dining area.
Hope you can join us for a drink at Grünthal soon. There is plenty to choose from!
Project Credits
Interior Design: Enoki
Structural Engineer: Lelio Bibbo Consulting Engineers