A frameless wine cellar in a Chicago penthouse
1/2" low-iron tempered glass, custom-milled pivot hardware, and a climate boundary that had to disappear.
The brief was simple and demanding: a 900-bottle wine display fully visible from the main living space, with a climate boundary that was structurally and visually invisible. No visible framing, no visible hardware, no visible seals.
We specified 1/2" low-iron tempered glass for the vertical panels — the low-iron formulation eliminates the green edge tint that would have been visible against the dark wood interior. All edges are polished flat, with a 45° chamfer on exposed corners.
The pivot door uses custom-milled floor and ceiling hardware from a European supplier, concealed inside the finished floor and coffered ceiling. The gasket is a proprietary compressible profile that maintains a 55°F / 60% RH boundary against the 72°F living space without visible bulk.
Total design-to-install ran 14 weeks. The client's first pour was a bottle of 2005 Barolo — a project our team will remember for a long time.