Wine Cave - Texas Hill Country

Hill Country, TX

Winner of the prestigious AIA Small Projects award and countless more for design excellence, this Wine Cave demanded an unconventional approach to bring the awe-inspiring secluded refuge to life.

The project began with the owner hiring a geotechnical engineer, who excavated a 70-ft-long by 18-ft-tall tunnel into the large limestone deposit. During excavation, water started to infiltrate the space, and by the time the architect and structural team came onboard, the cave was filled with water.

Draining the cave was easy enough, but preventing water from further filling the space required innovative thinking. The vast majority of water intrusion was abated via a 5,000-psi layer of reinforced meshing and shotcrete that lines the entirety of the tunnel; however, because limestone is a porous and permeable rock, a comprehensive dehumidifier + HVAC system was integrated and concealed above via a dropped ceiling of locally sourced Douglas Fir.

Built like a ship in a bottle, the Wine Cave used 3D laser scanning to acquire the exact dimensions and irregularities of the excavated space. The scan was then imported to Revit so the finished product could be easily envisioned and tinkered with prior to becoming reality.

Preventing the 80-ft-tall limestone cap above the cave from unwanted shifting and deterioration was structurally challenging, but by working shoulder-to-shoulder with the architect, the solution developed into something as elegant as it is functional. A 30-ft-tall bulkhead composed of board-formed reinforced concrete, dowels, ties, and steel was attached into the limestone and gave form to the glass-laden, wood-framed entrance. Eventually, ivy and moss native to the area will appear on the limestone to the left and right of the bulkhead, helping achieve the architect’s goal of providing a subterranean space without the overwhelming environmental conditions that typically accompany cave dwellings.