“In 1977, I passed by the Pont du Gard by chance, the famous Roman aqueduct, and the spiral staircase there gave me the idea to create circular storage spaces.
On my return to Mennecy, I dig a 2m hole in my garage and lined it with brickwork, I then constructed a spiral stairway and shelving out of scrap wood from our loft conversion business.
A large number of potential customers were invited to visit the prototype and were impressed with the concept, although obviously it could not be made from wood due to stability and the risks of humidity, insecticides and fungicides ...
The modular concrete racks and steps were designed in no time at all, a patent for the underground cellar was filed and concrete producers were consulted. I chose MONVOISIN (now called BETON CONCEPT) to produce them and gave them an exclusive license to use the French patent. Since then, 30,000 cellars have been constructed to store 30 million bottles of wine. A beautiful story of water and wine".
Georges HARNOIS
