[Case study - 57] Wine cellar, spa and a luxury basement — when underground space becomes the home's finest floor

Key highlights

• Context: A villa owner at Lakeview — a premium villa and shophouse development — planned to convert the entire basement into a fully equipped luxury living space, including a wine cellar, spa bathroom, laundry area and two toilets.
• Challenge: The basement had no gravity drainage. A conventional open sump pit would cause persistent odour and ruin the aesthetics of the space.
• Solution: SFA Pumps Vietnam installed two dedicated units — Sanicubic 1 WP for black water and Sanicom 1 for greywater — providing a fully sealed, odour-free drainage system with no open pit.
• Outcome: The basement became fully operational as a luxury living space, with clean aesthetics, no odour, and a responsible approach to wastewater separation from the source.

When basement drainage is handled the right way, a space once reserved for parking can become the most impressive floor in the home. This is the story of a villa owner at Lakeview — and how SFA Pumps Vietnam made that vision a reality.

The challenge

Basements in high-end villas and shophouses are increasingly being seen in a different light. Rather than serving purely as parking or storage, these underground spaces are now being transformed into private living areas — wine cellars, personal spas, home cinemas, and intimate entertainment zones. This shift is gaining momentum across premium residential developments, and Lakeview — a cluster of luxury villas and shophouses — is no exception.

The owner of one villa had an ambitious plan: convert the entire basement into a self-contained luxury retreat, complete with a wine cellar, a spa bathroom with an indulgent soaking tub, a laundry area, and two toilets. Looking further ahead, the owner also planned to develop the building into a restaurant concept — with the basement eventually serving that commercial function as well.

The core challenge was straightforward but non-negotiable: the basement had no gravity drainage. The conventional solution — an open sump pit — was entirely incompatible with the project's vision. Open pits generate persistent odour that is nearly impossible to control in an enclosed space, and their exposed structure would compromise the clean, refined aesthetic the owner intended to create. A sealed, odour-free drainage solution was the only acceptable path forward.

The solution

SFA Pumps Vietnam proposed two dedicated pumping units operating independently, each handling a separate wastewater stream:

Sanicubic 1 WP — a heavy-duty macerator pump station designed to collect all household wastewater from the two basement toilets. The unit is installed fully enclosed, out of sight and out of mind — eliminating the odour issues that are inherent to open sump pits in confined living spaces.

Read more: Sanicubic solution - Commercial and industrial wastewater to be pumped

Sanicom 1 — a specialist greywater pumping unit, collecting wastewater from the spa bathtub, washing machine, and wash basins throughout the basement. The Sanicom 1 operates quietly, making it well suited to environments where comfort and discretion are a priority.

Read more: Free Standing Lifting Stations (Sanicubic & Sanicom)

Both units discharge through a shared technical line — lifting wastewater 4.5 m vertically and running 20 m horizontally — before connecting to the building's communal septic system.

Worth noting: the decision to separate black water and greywater into two independent systems was made entirely at the owner's initiative. While a single Sanicubic unit is capable of collecting both, the owner chose to separate them at source as a personal commitment to environmental responsibility — enabling more efficient downstream management and leaving open the possibility of greywater reuse in the future should the system be upgraded.

Results

Once installed, the basement came to life as the luxury space it was designed to be — odour-free, visually seamless and ready to grow with the owner's long-term ambitions:

• Fully sealed, no odour: The enclosed system eliminates the persistent smell that open sump pits cannot avoid in confined, inhabited spaces.
• Aesthetics fully preserved: No exposed technical components, no open pits — the interior design remains exactly as intended.
• Ready for commercial use: The system has sufficient capacity to serve the planned restaurant phase without requiring a full drainage overhaul.
• A responsible drainage approach: Separating black water and greywater at source supports more effective downstream management, in line with sustainable building practices.

Conclusion

The Lakeview project is a clear example of what becomes possible when drainage is approached with the right solution from the start. Rather than accepting the limitations of an open sump pit, the owner chose a sealed pumping system from SFA Pumps Vietnam that protected both the quality of the living space and the long-term direction of the development.

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