Trailer Park Winery - Heteroculture Vineyard

  • James Blair, M.Arch. 2014
  • Hometown

    Whitefish, Montana
  • Class

    ARCH 5114 Core Design Studio V
  • Instructor

    Associate Professor Vincent Mulcahy
    Luben Dimcheff

The concept for the project was inspired by the extreme care and individualization that vineyards use when dealing with a seemingly monoculture fields of grape vines. The project uses USGS maps of the sites soil as well as topography to map and place each winery. The facility consists of six individual wineries, which make up the overall vineyard. Each facility has the capability to produce wine independently, some share processing such as bottling trailers and grape crushers. Taking advantage of gravity, the vertical layout of each winery allows for minimal use of pumps. Gravity feeds minimize the energy used at each step of the wine making process. By placing the wine fermentation and storage below grade the building, it takes advantage of the thermal stability of the earth itself.

Landscapes in the greater Ithaca area are notoriously beautiful and this project's site is no exception. The site's beauty lies in its views of Cayuga Lake. The gentle topography lends itself well to the production of grapes.

The building envelope is constructed from structurally insulated panels (SIP). The system uses a steel frame as an overall structure with brackets, horizontal and vertical beams, and a steel mesh to enclose the building. SIP's were used for their high R values as well as the modular off-site assembly. The concept of the internal s pace of the building was to reveal all of the connections and exemplify the mechanization of the structure itself. SIP floors also allowed this to happen for their inherent simplicity allowed joints to be revealed and has the opportunity to display the modular aspect of the structure.

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