INSTALLATION INSIDER: Intoxicating Installation

CONTRACTOR/DESIGNER: Scott Cohen, owner, The Green Scene, Canoga Park, Calif. www.greenscenelandscape.com

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: After seeing an outdoor bar constructed out of recycled wine bottles that Cohen had created for a neighbor, The Green Scene’s clients wanted something similar for their outdoor living space. However, Cohen wasn’t comfortable copying a neighbor’s project, so he came up with a different concept for these wine connoisseur clients – an illuminated wine-bottle waterfall flowing into their spa. In addition, this project included a serving bar with a gasoline grill and a fire pit area including a seating wall. 

PROJECT LOCATION:  Simi Valley, Calif.

PROJECT/INSTALLATION SQUARE FOOTAGE: The compact backyard was less than 1,500 square feet, about 30-feet deep by 50-feet wide, Cohen
estimates.

CONSTRUCTION TIME: Three-month installation working five days a week with a four-man crew.

SUBCONTRACTED SERVICES: Plumbing and electrical. All other work was conducted in-house.

KEY MATERIALS:

• Water feature includes 450 wine bottles, provided mostly by the client; waterfall fixtures were installed in the horizontal, continuous-sheet style. 500 fiber-optic cables illuminate the bottles. The cables were placed on a sparkler wheel to give a twinkling motion to the light.Columns feature wine-themed tiles that Cohen created in his ceramics studio; their caps are cast-in-place concrete coping.
• 8- by 10-foot prefabricated spa.
• Fire pit in flagstone exterior (color: sweet water); authentic firebrick veneer interior.
• Bar features a custom cast-in-place concrete countertop
• Patio is colored concrete

FINAL PROJECT COST: $115,000 (Installed in 2004)

AWARDS: The water feature portion of this project received a Masters of Design Award from Pool & Spa News.

Project Q&A with Scott Cohen

Q: Where did the idea come from to use wine bottles?

A: Part of what we do is build using green construction techniques. Anytime we can use recycled materials, we do. We do a lot with wine bottles – it’s all a part of what we call Libation Sensations. Sometimes we melt in kiln and then use them in countertops, or we’ll use them crushed. In outdoor kitchens we’ll cast them in place with a mixture of concrete and crushed glass from recycled bottles and then polish it with granite-finishing tools for a really neat look.

Q: Why did you decide to incorporate wine bottles into a water feature for this particular client?

A: I first met these folks because I had built a barbecue counter out of wine bottles for some wine connoisseurs up the street from them. These clients wanted me to do it for them, too. I said I couldn’t do the same thing, but I’ll come up with something different for you, and I came up with the wine-bottle waterfall behind the spa. They loved the idea – they were a professional couple looking for an entertaining backyard and they love to come home from work and share a bottle of wine together. So it was perfect.

Q: Is it difficult to sell a project like this when you’ve never done one before?

A: This is a kind of whimsical project. We didn’t have any pictures to show the customers because we hadn’t built one before. We did have perspective drawings to show them, but it did require the homeowners to give us some artistic license and instill confidence in us. It helped that they were referred to us by a neighbor.

Q: Were there any special requirements for this project?

A: I had to consult with a structural engineer to make sure the bottles could handle their own weight. To support the weight we had to construct the wall so it was anchored 4 feet in the ground.

Q: What was the greatest challenge in the design and installation of this project?

A: Each of the wine bottles is backlit with fiber-optic cables. It was challenging to get the lighting right because the color of the bottles affected how many cables we needed to put in each bottle – some of the darker bottles needed two cables. The back of this water feature looks like spaghetti. And, when we first installed each of these, we put the cables into the bottles and then held them in place with corks. During the summer, the moisure caused the corks to expand and all the corks started popping out of the bottles. We had to remove all of them and reinstall with silicone plugs. PLD