Washington State University (WSU) offers the state’s only four-year Viticulture and Enology degree, along with graduate studies based on the science and economics of the wine industry. In 2015, WSU will open a state-of-the-art research and teaching facility in Richland, Washington, to support these programs. The facility will house research laboratories, classrooms, and a fully functional winery. The new Wine Science Center is modeled on industry-leading teaching and research facilities at UC Davis, and will be the only other facility in the US offering the unique range of program spaces tailored to winery sciences. It will support study of the growing conditions, soils, and wines and grapes produced in the Pacific Northwest.
The new, $23 million project was conceived and funded by a partnership of Washington wine grape growers, wineries, Tri-Cities municipal and community organizations, and WSU. It will support Washington’s rapidly growing wine industry, which contributes $8.6 million annually to Washington’s economy.
FSi is the mechanical engineer for the Wine Science Center, working with Lydig Construction and ALSC Architects of Spokane. We designed specialty winery systems, along with mechanical systems tailored to facility’s sensory labs; chemistry, plant biology, and wine analytical laboratories; and climate-controlled growth chambers.
Learn more about the project at tricity.wsu.edu/wsc.