Spiral Wine Cellars

Several terms describe the same idea, and they are not quite interchangeable. A spiral cellar is a specific form, a cylindrical chamber sunk beneath the floor with a spiral staircase running down its centre and bottles stored in the walls. An in-ground or sunken cellar describes the same placement more generally. A wine cave usually means a larger chamber cut into a hillside rather than sunk vertically, more common at wineries than in homes. Root cellar is the agricultural ancestor of all of them. What most homeowners picture when they say underground wine cellar is a spiral cellar.

The sequence is site assessment, permitting, excavation, structural installation, then finishing. The assessment establishes whether the ground can take it: soil type, water table depth, and the proximity of existing foundations. Permitting varies by municipality; most jurisdictions treat a sunken cellar as a structural alteration requiring a permit, and some require an engineer’s review where the excavation approaches an existing footing. Excavation and the structural shell are the point at which this stops being a DIY project. Finishing covers the floor, the door, lighting and the racking that turns the shell into a cellar.

In general, you need not worry about adapting or enhancing existing or planned foundations. The Spiral Cellar will be encircled with a concrete ring, which gives the cellar its own structural integrity and handles incoming surcharge from adjacent footings. Post-deposit, your engineer will be provided with all the relevant technical information.

In North America, planning permission for the Spiral Cellar typically is not required if it is installed within your existing home and does not alter the structure significantly. However, local building codes and regulations may vary. We can assist you in navigating these regulations to ensure full compliance.

Our glass doors are crafted with scratch-resistant, toughened glass to maintain their pristine appearance. With minimal maintenance, these doors are designed to stay in excellent condition for many years, ensuring both durability and elegance.

Considerations for a party wall are applicable to a Spiral Cellar installation if the excavation is planned to be within 10′ of a neighboring owner’s building or structure. This is generally a straightforward process and is typically not comparable to obtaining planning permission.

We would encourage you to call us as soon as possible to ensure that the Spiral Cellar ties in with the project plans. This will reduce the chance of duplicating certain costs and will guarantee we are able to fit into the program.

Elevate the value and appeal of your home with the addition of an in floor wine cellar, a unique and impressive feature that is sure to impress guests and enhance your enjoyment of fine wine.

Genuwine spiral and underground wine cellars start at $100,000. The final figure depends on depth and diameter, finish materials and upgrades, and site conditions, ground type, water table, and whether the cellar goes into a new build or beneath an existing home. A firm figure follows a site assessment.

A Spiral Cellar is a specific form of underground wine cellar, a precast cylindrical chamber sunk beneath the floor slab, with a staircase winding around a central core. A conventional underground wine cellar is excavated and built out as a room. The spiral form is chosen where floor area is scarce, because it delivers full cellar capacity through a footprint little larger than its hatch, and it conditions itself largely passively through the surrounding earth.

The term underground wine cellar kit generally describes a modular, self-install product. A Spiral Cellar is a precision-engineered structure installed by trained crews, with the excavation, waterproofing and ventilation engineered to the specific site. The distinction matters most below the water table, where a kit rarely accounts for hydrostatic pressure and a correctly engineered underground wine cellar must.

In most cases, yes. An in ground wine cellar can be retrofitted wherever there is a ground-floor slab with adequate depth beneath it and access for excavation equipment. We survey the foundation, water table and buried services before committing to a location. Retrofits into existing homes account for a substantial share of the in ground wine cellar installations we complete each year.