Case Study
LABC Award Winning Vineyard
Overview
The client, Greyfriars Vineyard, has been producing grapes and wines for 30+ years but was taken over in 2010 and has since expanded to almost 50 acres across 3 sites. Based in Puttenham, Surrey, Greyfriars is a small and boutique family-run business that specialises in producing stunning English sparkling wines.
Modulus were approached by the contractor, who had worked with us on other projects that we had previously designed and been very pleased with the quality of our drawings.
Challenge
The client was looking to excavate a chalk hillside to create a store for their quarter of a million bottles of sparkling wine. The cave is a 3,500 square foot underground storage facility that gives a consistent and natural temperature that is perfect for storing the sparkling wine.
Solution
The chalk store was excavated leaving the 3 sides of exposed chalk. The only structure for this project was to be a concrete slab to give a working surface for the forklift trucks and a concrete roof. The columns were designed to deliberately lean towards the back of the store, therefore reducing the forces on the columns which support very heavy loads from the chalk soil that was placed on top of the roof to create a green roof.
Outcome
The incredible structure not only functions as a store for Greyfriars wine, but is also used to host large events and has become an enticing attraction for visitors.
We also can’t forget to mention, the project also won the LABC South East Award for “Best Small Commercial Project”.
Testimonial
“My team and I, at SLK Construction, really enjoy working with Owen and his team at Modulus because of their intelligent and collaborative approach to designing and building unusual structures. They are able to contribute to the development of a project as a whole, because ultimately their interest lies in solving problems with the right solution. It is good to see that Owen has created a team at Modulus that builds on his values and ethos, stemming from his wealth of experience as structural engineer, but also as someone who is keen to share his passion in engineering in a wider context.
We always enjoy working with them, Modulus are good team players. I have worked on various projects with Modulus over the last 7 years, and Modulus have always been able to engineer solutions to achieve our goals.
Myself and Owen worked on designing and building a large commercial wine cellar in the Surrey Hills for Greyfriars vineyard. This was a technical contract with lots of unusual challenges. Modulus always found sound engineering solutions.
Our Greyfriars Bineyard wine cellar project won the LABC Building Excellence Award 2019 for the Best Small Commercial Project in the South East region.
It’s a pleasure to work with multi-disciplined structural engineers that provide first class steelwork calculations and design. As we work more closely with Owen and his team, we are both learning more about each other which has improved efficiency in the development and design process. I would not hesitate to recommend their services to others.”
Scott Knowles MCIOB
Chartered Builder
SLK Construction