Our Process

How we design, engineer and build a wine cellar.

This is the work behind every Prestige cellar: three rounds of design, real vendor pricing, full engineering, and a final check in our own software before a single component is produced.

Consultation

It starts with your goals, your collection and your home.

Before we draw a line, we learn how you collect and how you live. We study the architecture and finishes of the house so the cellar reads as part of it, not an addition to it.

  • Your goals for the space and how you will use it
  • Collection size, bottle formats and how it will grow
  • Style, architecture and the finishes already in the home
Design in three phases

Sketch. 3D rendering. Photorealistic rendering.

Every cellar is designed in three passes, each one sharper than the last. You see the idea, then the space in three dimensions, then exactly what it will look like when it is finished.

  • Rough sketch: layout, proportion and bottle capacity
  • 3D rendering: every rack, finish and dimension in place
  • Photorealistic rendering: light, material and detail before anything is built
Sourcing

Real materials, real prices, real drawings.

We source every material through our vendor network and get hard prices and manufacturer drawings back, not allowances or estimates. What you approve is what gets built.

  • Racking, glass, doors, stone and cooling quoted by the makers
  • Manufacturer shop drawings for every component
  • One price, built from real quotes
Engineering

Then we engineer it.

We run the heat load calculations and draw the architectural and MEP plans for the space: walls, insulation, vapor barrier, cooling, ducting, drainage and power, all sized to hold your cellar at 55°F and 50 to 70% humidity.

  • Room-by-room heat load calculations
  • Architectural plans for the space
  • Mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) drawings
Prestige Cellaris™

Every cellar runs through Prestige Cellaris™.

Cellaris is the cellar intelligence software we built in-house. It models the finished room in 3D, simulates the airflow and the cooling, and checks the glass, doors and racking against each other, so problems are found on screen, not after the install.

  • Airflow and dead-air zones across every rack
  • Cooling capacity and cycling against the real heat load
  • Glass and frame condensation, door and racking clearances
Site verification

Plans are checked against the real room.

Once the design, the engineering and the build plans are verified, we field-check every dimension of the plans against the site. Nothing goes into production until the measurements match and you approve.

  • Field-verified dimensions
  • Final approval of plans and finishes
  • Released to production only after both
Production and delivery

Produced, crated and delivered by certified freight.

Every component is produced to the verified plans, crated, and sent by certified freight, so delivery and installation are calm, quick and complete.

  • Produced to verified, field-checked plans
  • Crated and protected for transit
  • Certified freight for an effortless delivery and installation
Floor plans, finish samples and notes from a wine cellar design consultationConsultation
Rough sketch of a walnut and limestone walk-in wine cellar designed by Prestige
3D rendering of the same walnut and limestone walk-in wine cellar
Photorealistic rendering of the same walnut and limestone walk-in wine cellar
Design in three phases
Material samples, drawings and a bound design proposal for a custom wine cellarSourcing
Dimensioned floor plan drawing of a walk-in wine cellarEngineering
A framed room marked out for a wine cellar before installationSite verification
A finished walk-in wine cellar by Prestige Wine Cellars in The Woodlands, TexasProduction and delivery
Proprietary software

Prestige Cellaris™
Cellar Intelligence.

We built Cellaris to see a cellar the way the air, the cooling and the glass will. It models the finished room, traces the airflow around every rack, and checks each part of the design against the others before we commit to production.

Prestige Cellaris™Cellar Intelligence
Verifying · Heat load and cooling capacity0/6
Room 55.0°FRH 62%
Illustration
Explore Prestige Cellaris™ →
Heat load and cooling capacitySized against the room, the glass and the climate
Airflow and dead-air zonesEvery rack reached, no stagnant corners
Glass and frame condensationSurface temperatures held above the dew point
Door and racking clearancesNo frame, swing or jamb blocking a bottle
Rack-to-rack conflictsNo corner that makes another rack useless
Temperature and humidityHolds 55°F and 50 to 70% RH

Ready to see your cellar, engineered?

Tell us about your space and your collection. The first step is a conversation.