San Antonio Architecture Firm Clayton & Little Wins AIA's 2019 National Small Project Award

From a large swath of properties at the Pearl to the retail locations of Local Coffee, Clayton & Little's fingerprints are all over San Antonio, recognizable by the industrial modern aesthetic that characterizes the firm's designs.

Although the firm has worked on both commercial and residential projects, Clayton & Little expanded into slightly new territory when they partnered with Saxum Vineyards in Paso Robles, CA. The vineyard needed a new equipment barn that was off-the-grid, sustainable and able to accommodate equipment for storage and maintenance, as well as to serve as "the foremost structure present upon entering the vineyard lined property," a visual reminder to visitors of "the winery's commitment to sustainability and subservience to the natural landscape."

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) founded the Small Project Awards to "raise public awareness of the value and design excellence that architects bring to projects regardless of size and scope." This year, the AIA recognized Clayton & Little's Saxum Vineyard Equipment Barn as one of 12 exemplary commercial and residential projects nationwide.
The barn's design is a modern twist on the pole barn that uses reclaimed oil field pipe as its frame and was constructed using minimalist and reclaimed   materials. Its photovoltaic roof produces enough electricity to take the Saxum Winery and its vineyard off-the-grid and then some – it produces an extra 1/3 of power above and beyond what the vineyard uses in a given year – and is also built to collect rainfall for "irrigating trees and [an] adjacent grazing meadow."

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