Our design was driven by the traditional forms of the Czech vaults which are prevalent in many buildings across the Czech Republic.

The double height nature of the vaults allows for the variety of volumes required within the brewery from the kettles, storage and ancillary spaces creating a functional layout minimising on floor space. While efficient from an operational perspective, the double height nature also gives the visitors the experience to ‘walk amongst the vaults’ experiencing the workings of the brewery from an elevated platform. This platform also contains the office accommodation located above the storage areas offering both workers and visitors direct access to an external ‘beer garden’ which is shaded by the vaults. Our idea was to have some of the actual hops and malts, used for the brewing process, could be located within this garden completing the whole visitor experience.  

These vaults also provide shading for the facades providing an ecological and sustainable design. Furthermore the form of tree like structures can be economically fabricated ‘off site’ to allow for a fast ‘on site’ execution ensuring a high standard of quality finish.

This quality of the enclosure is paramount to ensuring the design allows for the highest standards of hygiene and technology which in turn delivers the highest quality product for the consumers. 

Using a grid of 20x20m we were able to create 2 rows of four main vaults which covered the entire building and produced a fundamental iconic skeleton of the design. We decided to clad these vaults with timber cladding to bring a warmth contrast into the space of the production. Obtaining 12m height to the vaults, we designed sufficient space for all the stages of the beer process.

As part of the design process we developed a parametric definition to control the geometry of the vaults that form the roof.
This definition takes the structural grid and projects 4 control lines that form an X at the apex of each element. By manipulating these arcs we have control over the curvature and section of the structure.
Using this type of software allowed us to iterate through a series of options that we subsequently evaluated in order to choose the most appropriate form and shape for the project and site requirements.