Giant Steps by Fiona Lynch Office

Yarra Valley winery Giant Steps is famed for its single-vineyard chardonnay and pinot noir, rich vibrant wines that perfectly embody their cool-climate origins. The wines provided more than a drop of inspiration for interior design studio Fiona Lynch Office, charged with transforming a two-storey site in Healesville into a cellar door and tasting room.

The clients had been operating on the top level of the building for several years, leasing the ground level to an artisanal bakery. Fiona Lynch Office convinced them that expanding their operations across two levels would provide a better tasting experience for visitors, with new releases highlighted in a more casual space downstairs and premium vintages showcased in a richer, “more full-bodied” area upstairs, as director Fiona Lynch describes it.

The ground level reflects the crisp, light nature of the winery’s chardonnay and the land where its grapes come to life.

The ground level reflects the crisp, light nature of the winery’s chardonnay and the land where its grapes come to life. Fresh green shades dominate here, appearing in the Laminex-clad joinery, wine display shelves and table surfaces. They form a grounding contrast to natural oak – chosen to reflect the materiality of wine barrels – and the stunning oversized stone bar that anchors the space. The stone was sandblasted and brushed to create a more textured appearance and is cleverly juxtaposed with the smooth lines of a polished brass inset.

Upstairs – which features a private dining room and is used for VIP and tasting events – the mood is more sophisticated to mirror the complexity of Giant Steps’ pinot noir offering. The material palette is rich and layered: timber floors stained a deep walnut shade, bespoke deep-olive armchairs and sofas with raw, open-seam cuffs, lilac art-silk rugs underfoot and vinous, glossy custom side tables. Through black steel-framed doors, the space opens to a patio grounded in crazy paving, an enchanting locale for outdoor events.

The material palette is rich and layered: timber floors stained a deep walnut shade, bespoke deep-olive armchairs and sofas with raw, open-seam cuffs, lilac art-silk rugs underfoot and vinous, glossy custom side tables.

With the owners planning to move operations to a nearby winery site within a decade, Fiona Lynch Office embraced a sustainable reuse and repurpose philosophy: every element – from the stone bar and bespoke joinery to wine storage – can be easily relocated.

Interior design by Fiona Lynch Office. Build by EMAC Constructions. Joinery by Michael Schiavello.