Kingspan Panels And Winemaking And Wine Storing Facilities—A Natural Pairing

Winemaking is more than a business. It's a cherished and celebrated art, from the nurturing and harvesting of the grapes, to the fermentation and aging that turn the lush fruit into liquid luxury. Winemaking is an intricate (and often demanding) multistep process undertaken by experts and aficionados who understand the nuances involved—and the control needed for optimal results.

The buildings that make up a winery or a wine storage facility play a pivotal role in creating a successful and valued end product. Important structural factors include humidity and temperature control, lighting, air and weather tightness. This helps maintain the integrity of interior environments and safe food handling standards.

Energy efficiency is also a concern when designing and building a winemaking facility. This is due to the already vast amount of energy required to power the equipment and satisfy the operational needs of these sizeable structures. Building in cost-effective energy savers simply makes sense when constructing on this scale.

Kingspan Panels is a known name among the architects and contractors that build the facilities in which some of California's finest wines originate. Many designers and builders turn to Kingspan for the superior materials needed to design and craft the highly specified buildings this industry calls for. Let's explore three examples that demonstrate why Kingspan and winemaking and wine storage facilities pair perfectly.

Kingspan products allowed the architect to create the look desired, while contributing to the creation of an interior environment that could be precisely regulated. Click images to enlarge.

Chappellet Winery

Chappellet Winery, in St. Helena, California, needed to expand its storage capacity to include a Barrel Chai, a wine aging room that requires a very controlled interior environment. The planned expansion would house 4,000 barrels, a barrel wash area, and a small 20 tank white wine production space. For optimal wine storage conditions, a barrel chai must have low to no light exposure and it must maintain a stable internal temperature. Those two aspects are critically important in the storage of wine. Finally, due to the winery’s location on the picturesque slopes of Pritchard Hill in California’s Napa Valley, the owners wanted a design that fit in aesthetically with its surroundings.

Kingspan's KingZip™ standing seam roof panels along with 300 Minor Rib & 400 V-Wave wall panels were selected because they provided the best combination of performance and aesthetics necessary for this project. With high R-values, superior air and weather tightness, and low thermal bridging, energy savings of up to 30% can be realized. Another key factor was Kingspan’s single component roof and wall systems resulted in quicker installation and minimized construction delays. The building’s design also integrated seamlessly into the surrounding Napa Valley landscape.

Insulated metal panels by Kingspan offered numerous benefits to the Red Custom Crush project, not the least of which were quick and easy installation, keeping construction costs down. Click images to enlarge.

Red Custom Crush Wine Storage Facility

Premium Wine Storage, a wine storage company, needed to expand their operations in the Sonoma Valley to include a new 20,000 square foot bulk wine storage facility, to be called Red Custom Crush. To successfully and legally store wine, very specific conditions needed to be met. There must be a very stable internal environment in terms of temperature, humidity and sunlight, and regulatory safe food handling standards that must be met.

Ownership also wanted to maximize the facility’s energy efficiency by reducing the energy demand. California’s green building codes and carbon emissions standards meant that sustainability and carbon footprint were also important considerations.

The facility utilized a high performance integrated building envelope solution combined with Kingspan’s KingZip standing seam roofing panels and 300 A Azteco wall panels. These two panel systems met all of the requirements for this project: stable interior environment, high R-values, airtightness, weather tightness, reduced energy demand, and reduced carbon footprint.

Additionally, Kingspan IMPs, as a single-component system, reduced overall build time due to their ease of installation. Marc Davis, installer for the Red Custom Crush project, said, “I always choose to make the commitment to Kingspan for the durability. Even Kingspan’s base-line products are good-looking, especially their architectural products that have an aesthetic appeal, and all Kingspan’s products are easy to install.”

The owners wanted the state-of-the-art in terms of winemaking and wine storage facilities, and with Kingspan Insulated Panels, they got it. The building, which can store over 100,000 gallons of wine, offers a stable internal environment and a weathertight shell. Click images to enlarge.

California Winery

This family-owned winery needed to retrofit an existing commercial space (approximately 26,000 sq. ft.) to create a state of the art wine production facility with the capacity to house over 100,000 gallons. The facility needed to be energy efficient while maintaining a stable internal environment that would be free from humidity and would remain air and weather tight. These two factors are vital towards the preservation of the quality of the wine throughout the various stages of wine production.

Kingspan IMPs were selected because they provide the ideal qualities for this project. As Davis, who also worked on this project, notes, “There's a reason we use Kingspan's IMPs for these types of niche buildings. Keeping out moisture and maintaining a stable temperature is critical in winemaking. And building insulation is key, which is why we trust Kingspan's products for these projects. The materials in their panels set the standard. I think the handwriting is on the wall for fiberglass panels, especially in California."

Kingspan’s KingZip roof panels and 300 Series wall panels created a complete high performance building envelope with a stable internal environment that is protected from outside elements. As an added benefit, the interior of the panels enhance the interior lighting systems due to their Bright White finish.

Naturally, Kingspan is pleased to be a "go to" resource for the unique design and construction needs of the winemaking industry, and they toast those that have chosen to utilize and trust the Kingspan product line for their building needs. 

About Kingspan Insulated Panels - North America

Kingspan Insulated Panels – North America is a business unit of Kingspan, a global company operating in more than 80 countries, with over 200 manufacturing facilities. Kingspan Insulated Panels – North America manufactures and markets three groups of products at its U.S., Canadian and Mexican facilities: insulated metal wall and roof panel systems for commercial/industrial construction; insulated architectural panel and façade systems for design-driven projects; and controlled environment panels and doors for cold-storage and climate-controlled warehousing. In addition to its commitment to quality and innovation, the company is on the leading edge of the sustainability movement, offering best-of-class products produced in state-of-the-art, eco-friendly facilities. To learn more visit  www.kingspanpanels.us.