Challenge:
Create two fully divided yet identical temperature-controlled above ground barrel hall rooms under one roof to store and keep visible two separate vintages of wine using operable full-view divider walls that also allow for the safe movement of wine barrels stacked on special racks up to five barrels high.
Solution:
Six Amarr® 3552 Aluminum Full-View Doors (each 19' wide x 16' high) along with a matching fixed transom three rows high above each door, 3" vertical lift track, dual-torsion shaft and triplex spring assembly (rated for 25,000 cycles), dark bronze anodized finish, ClearView aluminum struts and 1/2" clear tempered, insulated double-pane glass (high-performance double glazing included for temperature control). Additional doors include four Amarr® 4100 Series Insulated Rolling Slat Doors in a galvanized gray finish ranging in size from 8' wide x 8' high to 15' wide x 12' high.
Results:
An elegantly divided barrel hall space featuring both form and function resulting in two separate temperaturecontrolled rooms where patrons can experience viewing the wine aging process along with a unique aisleway in between for catered dinners, wine tastings and special events.
Application:
Environment:
Winery
Location:
Napa, CA
Architect:
San Francisco & Oakville, CA
Arrow&Branch Estate Vineyard – Napa, CA
When Arrow&Branch Estate Vineyard proprietors Steve and Seanne Contursi visited the famous Tenuta San Guido winery and attended a Sassicaia tasting a few years ago during a trip to the Tuscany region in central Italy, they found the exact inspiration they needed for their own winery that they planned to build in Napa, Calif.
The Contursi’s were intrigued with how the Tenuta San Guido winery stored its stacks of wine barrels, fully visible in two dedicated temperature-controlled rooms with separate vintages behind fixed walls of glass with a unique aisleway running in between.
Upon returning home – and after years of relying on third-party shared facilities to produce Arrow&Branch wine from their collection of several vineyards – the Contursi’s continued to follow through on plans to build what would become their own state-ofthe-art winery.
Divided barrel hall with operable walls
Working with San Francisco-based Taylor Lombardo Architects, the Contursi’s shared how they wanted their new winery’s barrel hall to look based on what they saw at Tenuta San Guido, but with a couple of new approaches that included much larger areas for barrel aging, and the need for operable versus fixed seethrough walls.
The planned size for the Contursi’s dedicated temperature-controlled barrel hall rooms was 1,970 square feet each. That’s nearly 4,000 square feet of total space for barrel aging that can accommodate up to 1,200 wine barrels. And at nearly 60 feet in length, it wasn’t feasible to equally divide that size of space using fixed glass alone.
In addition, the Contursi’s wanted the ability to easily move racks of wine barrels, stacked up to five barrels high, in and out of the barrel hall rooms using forklift equipment.
That meant that the divided space between the barrel hall rooms had to be operable, yet with unobscured views into each room from the aisleway in between.
This layout approach would allow patrons to experience first-hand the work that goes into the wine aging process, the all-important step between fermentation and bottling which determines a wine’s distinct flavor. However, one giant door for each interior operable wall was simply out of the question.
Full-view doors the perfect solution
The solution that Taylor Lombardo Architects arrived at – managed by one of the firm’s two partners Tom Taylor and architect Fanny Lee – was to incorporate six large Amarr 3552 2" Aluminum Full-View Sectional Doors into two separate operable walls. Each wall would contain three doors positioned end to end and directly face each other across a nearly 13 footwide aisleway.
Included in the operable walls design were matching fixed transoms positioned three-rows directly above each full-view sectional door that make the doors appear even higher. The top edges of the transoms meet a solid wall that then connects to the barrel hall ceiling about 36 feet above each room where the wine barrels are aged.
The Amarr full-view sectional doors (each 19' wide x 16' high) also feature:
- 3" vertical lift tracks
- a dual torsion shaft and triplex spring assembly (rated for 25,000 cycles) to properly handle and balance the size and weight of the doors
- dark bronze anodized finish on all aluminum surfaces 3
- ClearView aluminum struts that help to maximize the views through the doors
- 1/2" clear tempered, insulated glass (highperformance double glazing is included for temperature control with the barrel aging rooms areas maintained at 55 degrees F)
- LiftMaster® ¾ hp Logic 5.0 jackshaft door operators
Mark Johnson, FAIA, Architectural Sales Manager, Amarr, explained that the Amarr fullview sectional doors feature double-width end stiles that is standard for any Amarr full-view door that is 16 ft. long or wider.
He further commented, “This feature provides added structure and strength and includes a set of double hinges on the end stiles. The doors’ reinforced ClearView strut design also helps to keep the doors straight and prevents added stress even when the doors are fully raised in a vertical position, all while not blocking the viewing area in the door.”
“The doors’ reinforced ClearView strut
design also helps to keep the doors
straight and prevents added stress even
when the doors are fully raised in a
vertical position, all while not blocking
the viewing area in the door.”
Mark Johnson, FAIA, Architectural Sales Manager, Amarr
Instead of glass, each door’s bottom section contains solid aluminum panels with the same dark bronze anodized finish. That allows the sections to better handle forklift activity, foot traffic and moisture when floors are cleaned in the barrel hall’s aging rooms and the aisleway in between them.
Sandwiched in between the full-view sectional doors are structural columns with a matching dark bronze anodized finish along with a matching header beam across top of each door. Push button full-view door controls are located on the barrel-facing sides of the structural columns.
Rolling slat doors help to save space
Several functional areas at the Arrow&Branch Estate Vineyard winery also have distinct doorway requirements that were handled using Amarr’s 4100 Series Insulated Rolling Slat Doors, primarily due to their unique spacesaving design.
Aside from that benefit, four such rolling slat doors – ranging in size from 8' wide x 8' high to 15' wide x 12' high – help to avoid obstructions directly above the doors, retain chilled air in temperature-controlled spaces with a R-value of 8.0, and provide an industrial-style closure between the winery’s:
- barrel hall aisleway and the fermentation room
- fermentation room and the winery’s exterior
- cold storage area for fruit (maintained at 40-45 degrees F) and the winery's exterior
- as well as seal off an elevated storage area that houses and protects various seasonal equipment
The bottom of each Amarr rolling slat door features an electric sensing edge which also acts as a weather seal. If a person or object gets in the way of the door when it’s being lowered, the door will immediately stop upon impact and reverse direction. The rolling slat doors also feature an auxiliary hand chain in the event of a power loss.
The rolling slat doors’ galvanized gray finish was chosen so that it would complement the color and finish of their surrounding walls.
Installation a great team effort
Jennifer Peters, Project Manager with Oakely, Calif.-based Nor-Cal Overhead Inc. oversaw the Amarr door installations while partnering with her company’s superintendent, Eric Gaffaney, on all aspects of the project from the field measurement stage through the entire installation. The project took about four weeks in total.
“We really appreciate our long-term
partnership with Amarr and the help that
they provide us to accommodate special
considerations like the winery’s fixed
transoms.”
Jennifer Peters, Project Manager,
Nor-Cal Overhead Inc.
Peters mentioned that installing the fixed fullview transoms using Amarr-provided materials involved some creative coordination for framing them in and installation since that type of work would normally be handled by a company that specializes in windows.
“We had a fantastic partnership with Jeremi Ocampo (Amarr’s General Manager, Bay Area DC Operations) who was able to accommodate obtaining the full-view glass sections for the transoms,” Peters said. “The entire project was a great team effort. We really appreciate our long-term partnership with Amarr and the help that they provide us to accommodate special considerations like the winery’s transoms.”
Peters further emphasized, “Our crew is very proud of the way the project turned out because the doors help to create a unique ‘experience’ for the winery’s patrons.”
Tall, wide and transparent
Prior to building the Arrow&Branch Estate Vineyard winery the Contursi’s opted not to construct an underground wine cellar to preserve as much of the existing 8-acres of vineyard on their entire 10-acre property. When fully finished, the winery and all its components will cover about two acres.
“Amarr’s aluminum full-view sectional
doors were the perfect solution to
accommodate both the width of the
barrel racks and height of the stacked
barrels”
Tom Taylor, Partner,
Taylor Lombardo Architects
Partner Tom Taylor with Taylor Lombardo Architects pointed out that his client wanted to showcase wine barrel aging above ground in a unique but functional setting that would also include hospitality space for patrons and have an elegant look.
“Our client also wanted a tall and wide solution with a door that would easily get out of the way because there is no room in the barrel aging rooms for doors to swing,” said Taylor. “We also wanted the doors to be transparent, so Amarr’s full-view sectional doors were the perfect solution to accommodate both the width of the barrel racks and height of the stacked barrels.”
“Amarr makes a great product that has worked out well for us,” explained project architect Fanny Lee. “This was not an easy application from an installation standpoint, and we really pushed the product to gain the maximum amount of benefit out of them.” Lee added that all correspondence with Amarr was easy and that her firm was able to get questions answered promptly.
Highly functional, strong and durable
The winery’s Arrow&Branch name pays homage to the Contursi family’s leadership in the U.S. rare coin business and to America’s heritage. Found on the reverse of many examples of U.S. coinage is an eagle holding arrows and an olive branch in its talons as representative symbols of both peace and strength.
Along that same line, strength as well as durability were traits that Arrow&Branch Estate Vineyard anticipated for the operable walls in their new winery’s twin barrel aging rooms. “Amarr’s full-view sectional doors are highly functional while performing exactly what we wanted them to do while also conveying the exact impression that we wanted to make,” Contursi shared.
“Amarr’s full-view sectional doors are
highly functional while performing
exactly what we wanted them to do
while conveying the exact impression
that we wanted to make.”
Steve Contursi, Proprietor,
Arrow&Branch Estate Vineyard
He further commented that he and his wife had a vision of building the winery as big as their county would allow. They ultimately received a 30,000 gallon permit for grape crushing which would in turn require 30 fermentation tanks. That then meant that the overall size of the winery’s barrel hall had to be large enough to carry two separate vintages of wine.
“Much as we experienced at Tenuta San Guido in Tuscany, we’re now using the aisleway in the barrel hall to host elaborate dinner events that can accommodate 50-60 patrons,” said Contursi. “The setting makes for a dramatic and elegant experience with the full views of the stacked barrels illuminated by chandelier and other special lighting.”
Contursi concluded that as large as the Amarr full-view doors are, they emanate an exquisite appearance due to their impressive dark-bronze finish with each door capable of rising to the ceiling simply with the push of a button.
“The doors are quite an architectural achievement and they’ve worked out perfectly as we were originally inspired during our visit to Tenuta San Guido in Tuscany,” said Contursi. “We couldn’t have done it any other way to achieve both a winemaking and hospitality space all in one truly special setting.”
Architect Resources Available
For details on the 3552 Aluminum Full View Doors, visit Amarr Aluminum Sectional Doors. For details on the 4100 Series Insulated Rolling Slat Doors, visit Rolling Slat and Grille Doors. To explore more about available Lift Options, including Standard Lifts, visit Amarr Lift Options for Commercial Garage Doors.
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