Swanson School of Engineering

The feature of Salcheto that has remained on my mind since our visit has been how successfully the sun tubes lit up their entire facility on a cloudy day. Seeing them mysteriously popping out of the cobbled surface of the patio, they looked like opaque alien mushrooms, but journeying down the stairs and entering the room with the fermenters, I could hardly believe we were underground. The feeling was even more disarming one level down where the barrels were. Despite a complete lack of windows, the room was lit with natural lighting. I can imagine it must be a joy to work underground yet not have to suffer the effects of cold fluorescent lighting or the glare of LEDs, and instead view the rooms through diffuse sunlight. I appreciated that the sun tubes completely eliminated the need for electric lighting.