008 GLENELLY CELLARS
STELLENBOSCH, SOUTH AFRICA
Project and realization 2006-2009

A Joint Venture 
Jean-Frédéric Luscher & Serge Lansalot, Arch. Dplg, Libourne, France
Client: S.C. Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac, France, Glenelly Estate, Idas Valley, Stellenbosch, RSA.
Type: Commission. Area: 6 100 m2

Architect on record: Tim Ziehl Architects, Stellenbosch, RSA. 
Structural Engineer:
 De Lange & Sippel
 Stellenbosch, RSA.
Project team: Jean-Frédéric Luscher, Manuela Ruozzi,
 Serge Lansalot, Caroline Siré,
 Béla Berec (Modelist), 
Christine Jahn,
 Agnès Massé, Johan Monzie.
Photographs by JFL, Tim Ziehl

Sustainable cooling system
The massive construction in steel reinforced concrete will be activated as a thermal mass for an ecological cooling system. Thanks to condensation towers, it will be possible to circulating cool water in the slabs of the barrel and storage rooms and thus regulating the room temperature between 14° to 16°c, in conjunction with night air ventilation. Additional chilled water from the temperature control system of the tank room will be used for make-up of the 2° to 3°c, which may be needed during the hot season. 
This ends up with an important energy saving of approximately 70%, as compared to a regular HVAC system with fan coils.

A link
The new winery Glenelly Cellars belongs to prestigious investors of the Médoc in France and the 125 ha property is located in the outskirts of the city of Stellenbosch, on the foothill of the Simonsberg.
The project is built in a very steep and narrow valley, surrounded by a forest of eucalyptus trees. Its glazed facade is facing the residential area around: it becomes a link between the property and the residential area, but also symbolically illustrates the encounter of the French wine tradition with the contemporary South Africa society.



A modern winery using gravity
The building is designed for an annual production of 600 tons of grapes and is organized on 5 levels, which allows for using the gravity during all phases of the wine production, thanks to the 25 m height difference from the top to the bottom of the hill. The grape harvest is delivered at the upper level, under an archway open on both sides and accessing to 2 grape sorting areas. The tank room is placed on the lower level of the same space. The volume of l. 65 m x w. 22 m x h. 8 m is free of any structure and opens to a scenic view over the city and the mountains in the background. Two levels for barrel rooms (storage capacity of 1800 barrels) and a bottle storage (capacity of 1.2 m bottles) are overlaid by being gradually inserted in the site. A semi-underground ring wall offers
a delivery area, which is almost invisible from a distance.