The renowned Château de Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape is investing 10 million euros in the conversion of its wine cellar according to ecological principles. After an international design competition with 300 participants, the Perrin family, owners of the estate with 80 hectares of vineyards, commissioned the Indian studio Mumbai for design and concept.
The concept involves collecting rainwater from the specially designed roof of the production building, cleaning it in three stages and collecting it in a basin ten metres deep. With the help of pipes, the strong wind of the Mistral is directed into the basin, where it blows over the water surface. In this way, the water temperature is lowered to 12 degrees and used to cool the cellars. If the wind is not strong enough, a traditional cooling system is used, which is to be powered by bioethanol.
The construction work for the plant will be carried out exclusively with local materials such as sand, clay and lime. They are to start after the next harvest in 2019 and be completed 18 months later. "There will be no before-and-after effect, nothing will be visibly added or removed from the existing buildings," stressed Louis-Antoine Grégo, the architect of Studio Mumbai.
(uka)