Working with an architect on a brewpub design

Pick someone who will learn the brewery

An architect with brewery experience is ideal but rare. An architect with restaurant and commercial kitchen experience who is willing to learn the brewing process is the next best thing. Ask to see completed hospitality projects. Ask how they handled kitchen exhaust, drainage and fire approvals. Visit one if you can.

Find out early who will handle mechanical, electrical and plumbing design. A brewpub needs serious MEP work: power, water, drainage, gas, ventilation and refrigeration. Some architects bring an MEP consultant. Others expect you to hire one. Either way, that consultant should be in the first meetings, not brought in after the layout is drawn.

Write a brief that starts with the beer

Before the first sketch, give the architect a written brief. Include:

• Brewhouse size, number and size of fermenters and brite tanks, with weights when full and drawings from the fabricator.
• Cold room size and position, close to the bar for short beer lines.
• Kitchen equipment list and menu style.
• Seat count you need to make the numbers work.
• Delivery route for malt, kegs and gas. Where spent grain goes.
• Your budget, including a contingency.

Explain how a brew day flows. Walk them through the process if you can, ideally at a working brewery. An architect who has seen a brewer hose out a mash tun will design drains differently.

The things restaurant architects tend to miss

In our experience a few brewery needs are often overlooked on first drawings:

• Floor falls and drains. A brewery floor needs falls of around 1 to 2 percent towards stainless drains. See our guide on floor drains and slopes.
• Ceiling height. Tall fermenters need clearance above for fittings and cleaning access.
• Structural load. Full tanks are heavy, especially on upper floors.
• Ventilation. Kettle steam and fermentation CO2 both need their own extraction.
• Vessel access. Doors and routes wide enough to get tanks in and out again later.

Put the cold room next to the bar

The most important adjacency in a brewpub is between the cold room and the taps. Draught beer travels from the keg or serving tank to the tap through a beer line. Short lines are easier to keep cold, waste less beer when they are cleaned and pour better. Long runs through a warm ceiling need insulated, chilled trunking and still cause foamy pours on a hot evening.

Ask the architect to place the cold room directly behind or below the bar where possible. Then place the brewhouse so the brewers can move beer from fermenters to serving tanks without crossing the dining room. Kitchen to dining is the third line to keep short. Get these three right and the room works, whatever it looks like.

Show the brewery, or hide it well

Many brewpubs put the brewhouse behind glass as the centrepiece. It looks good and tells guests the beer is made here. It also means the brewhouse is on display on brew days, when hoses, sacks and steam are part of the scene. Design for that. Keep sacks and waste out of the sightline. Give brewers a back route that does not cross the dining room.

Glass walls next to a hot brewhouse need thought too. Condensation, heat and noise all pass through glass. Ask the architect how they will manage the temperature of the dining side next to a boiling kettle.

Design for approvals from the first drawing

The architect's drawings are the basis of most approvals: building permission, fire NOC, pollution consent and the excise licence plan. Each authority may want different detail. Rules vary by state and change. Your architect and licensing consultant should agree, before drawings are final, what each authority will need to see.

Changes after submission can mean resubmission and delay. Freeze the layout as early as you can. Our guide on working out break-even shows why every week of delay costs money.

Keep cost under control

Brewpub fit outs overrun most often through changes. A new wall, a moved drain or an extra tank after construction starts costs far more than the same change on paper. Agree the scope, sign off drawings in stages and track every change with its cost before it is approved.

Ask the architect for a cost plan at each stage: concept, detailed design and tender. Hold a contingency, often 10 to 15 percent of construction cost. Do not spend it on upgrades before the risky work (drainage, structure and services) is done.

Your first meeting

Bring the beer to the first meeting, literally if you can. Explain the brewing process. Share the equipment list and fabricator drawings. Set the budget. Ask the architect to walk the site with you and your MEP consultant before drawing anything.

The Brewery Business Management course covers fit out planning, costing and the approvals path. Your first step this week: write a one page brief listing every vessel with its full weight and footprint. Send it to the architects on your shortlist.

Common questions

Do I need an architect with brewery experience?

It helps but is rare. An architect with commercial kitchen experience who learns the brewing process, working with a good MEP consultant, can do the job well.

What should a brewpub architect's brief include?

Vessel sizes and weights, cold room position, kitchen equipment, seat count, delivery and waste routes and the budget with contingency.

Why do brewpub fit outs go over budget?

Mostly through changes after construction starts. Freeze the layout early and track every change with its cost.