Walk-through and above this underground wine cellar. In the kitchen, you get a clear view down into the cellar from the glass ceiling of the wine cellar. A unique, luxury design element that most home and wine cellar owners won’t get to experience.
This wine cellar boasts a high ceiling, skylight, custom built cabinetry, a three coil, split cooling evaporator system, and a custom-colored stain.
The space is 168 inches wide, 40 and ¾ inches deep. The ceiling is 15 feet, and the stain used on all the wine racking (and even the custom ladder) is a custom gray stain on a white oak wood.
As mentioned, just one of the stunning features of this underground wine cellar is the view from the kitchen: a glass ceiling. Or you could say a glass floor in the kitchen for a “floor-view” of the wine cellar. This wine cellar’s ceiling height was around 180 inches, and at the top is a skylight so you can see straight from the kitchen down into the cellar.
With such a tall ceiling height, it was important to ensure space was utilized but didn’t feel cramped. As part of the height, a custom wine cellar ladder was included in the design so that wines at the top could be reached.
The ceiling did present unique challenges, mostly due to the space and framing to ensure proper sealing of the wine cellar while also making wine storage that fits the space like a glove.
Although it looks like this underground wine cellar below the kitchen has standard cabinetry, it does not. In fact, the dimensions of the space meant that everything had to be built in place. Standard cabinets are built off site or even ordered at a standard size, and then inserted into the space as fits. When we say this is custom, we mean it! No standard cabinets here, but rather cabinetry built to the space and installed together in the space to utilize every bit of space.
Even though these are custom made, you don’t want the design to feel less than luxury. That means it needs to have that high-end, finished cabinet build and look. You don’t want pieces that appear smaller or incoherent in the space. We take pride in the finest of details being cohesive and professionally curated, meaning that luxury shines through.
As well, it is important that the construction and installation matches the quality of the design. If we had used template, standard cabinetry and finishes it would not have sealed properly along the glass skylight that leads this underground wine cellar into the kitchen. We needed to ensure that everything was clad with wood for properly sealing, support, and a polished look. The wood at the top helps create the illusion of a cabinet, but providing that faux cabinet through the cladded top.
As we’re talking about the custom-built nature of the cabinetry, it is a perfect segway into the wine racking in this stunning wine cellar.
With a bottle capacity of around 1100 bottles, this wine cellar features the perfect combination of modern wine racking, a display row to show off select wines, and case or bulk storage.
To tie into the contemporary coloring and nature of this wine cellar, the main wine cellar racking visible is nearly invisible. Black metal wine pegs are used to create a floating effect for displaying the wine of both sides of the decanting space.
The metal peg wine racking has become more utilized recently for it’s sleek look that plays down on the visual real estate wine racking typically takes up.
To use all the space in the high ceilings, the metal wine peg sections resume after the covers from the cooling unit. The custom ladder, stained to match the custom gray color of the wine cellar, enables the client to reach their wine storage at that height.
Below the metal wine pegs, are more traditional (but still contemporary) angled display rows. Angled display rows are used for storage, but because the wine is stored at an angle it can give a visual appeal of differentiating storage angles. The row still maintains a proper angle so the cork will remain wet for all your wines.
There is also a display row for a front facing display below the decanting space, so you can show off the labels of some of your favorite wines.
Lastly, we know that storing your cases of wine is important as well and plays into the overall bottle capacity of the space. Near the bottom of the wine cellar, you can see bulk or case storage wrapping around the entire space, even below the decanting area.
The case or bulk storage was the only exception to built-in the space and were able to be constructed in house at the shop prior to installation.
We keep coming back to the high ceilings that lead to the skylight—and that’s because that is one of the big focal points in this underground wine cellar. But that skylight is also one of the features that average wine cellar builders would dread designing around because it requires custom solutions.
Custom solutions are an everyday and welcome part of design and build for us. And this glass ceiling and ceiling height in the wine cellar is one of those solutions we were eager to tackle and ensure was accounted for.
For cooling and maintaining the temperature and humidity we needed a powerful system that could condition the entire space, including the ceiling area, to preserve the wine in this cellar in Beverly Hills.
A wine cellar refrigeration system is usually set up with one evaporator coil, which is usually adequate enough for cooling enough air to maintain proper temperature. But when you add an additional 15 feet in ceiling space, you need more power and more air cooled to properly circulate.
Here we used a RM 10,000 3E, which is a split-cooling system with three evaporator coils in the wine cellar. This meant we needed to incorporate 3 grills or covers into the design for the cooling unit. To help everything feel balanced, we added an additional “faux” cover that actually does not have a coil behind it.
The secondary focal point of this wine cellar is the decanting space, which wows when you enter the wine cellar.
The shelves in the decanting space are made of glass, so feels light but also ties into the glass skylight of this wine cellar. It also properly breaks up the visual design without drawing away from the cabinetry and wines.
Glass also always adds a higher end touch because of the way it will bounce light. We installed the LED lights in the decanting space to illuminate the area when you are utilizing it, but knowing the light would also bounce into the space to help it feel brighter.
LED lighting was used throughout the entire wine cellar, which is important because the wrong type of lighting can damage your wine. LED lighting specific for wine cellars keeps the temperature cool while still providing plenty of light. Because of this, it also means how you place the lighting is important.
We have LED lighting going around the case or bulk storage, in the decanting space, and under the cooling unit. Because of this placement, the wines are properly lit, and the space feels well lighted and bright rather than dark and damp (even if it is a wine cellar we don’t always want that feeling).
Lighting was not placed above the cooling unit, primarily because it wasn’t necessary. You have light from the skylight in this underground wine cellar in the kitchen bringing the kitchen’s lighting in, and there are recessed lights in the surrounding ceiling area.
We worked with some of the best in Beverly Hills (and honestly all of California) to make sure this wine cellar was designed to flow with the rest of the house and to meet the client’s vision.
Tyler Development was our General Contractor on this project. Luxury is their only avenue, and so the process they coordinate is more than overseeing development.
Lynda Murray with McClean Design Group was the lead designer. She worked step in step discussing design to ensure that more than the color scheme was elevated. The lighting, the shelving, and the details were all coordinated between her and our Vintage Cellars team, and choices were made in the details in every inch of space.
Working with development companies and designers is not always easy for builders, but it is always easy with McClean Design Group & Tyler Development. Vintage Cellars’ has expertise in professionally navigating the process with designers and developers, but more importantly can recognize which luxury and high end companies are best for you to work with on your wine cellar or sauna.
An underground wine cellar still in the kitchen? Check. Fifteen-foot-tall ceiling space that is still cooled and properly sealed? Check. Custom built shelving and cabinetry to fit the specific dimensions of the space including the sealing? Check.
With a skylight revealing this underground wine cellar to kitchen guests, you’ll be just as amazed at the luxury and capacity of the cellar when you step into this custom, luxury-made wine cellar design.
And where ceilings, skylights, and size would normally be limits, we don’t see those here at Vintage Cellars. Luxury always goes beyond the limits and that’s what we do best. Trust the best, who can help you push boundaries in your wine cellar design and build.
With more than 30 years of building Custom Wine Cellars, we are experts in designing and building Custom Wine Cellars from soup to nuts. We help clients nationwide and would be glad to give you a free design for your custom wine cellar.
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