Exile Brewing Company

Slingshot Architecture

Recognitions: 2014 Iowa Architect Summer Issue

Project Description

A local restaurateur + his family desired to create a new local brewery that would distribute beer regionally + rival other Midwestern competitors. The brewery would not only serve craft beer but also feature a new restaurant with a modernized german bar-style menu. The family purchased a historic turn-of-the-20th-century warehouse to repurpose + rehabilitate using federal + state historic tax credits. The space needed to engage + excite patrons, while putting the brewing process on display. The client decided the name + theme of the brewery would honor their family’s immigration story, as well as those of other immigrants who came to the United States in search of new opportunities. The design team delved deeply into the rehabilitation of the historic building as well as the integration of the brewery + the interior design. To differentiate the uses and spaces, materials range from sleek industrial metal and concrete to warm woods reminiscent of an old-world tavern. The client + the design team infused a triumphant, personal immigration story into the interior spaces + adjoining beer garden to align with the theme. You feel it whether you are touring the brewery, enjoying a meal or quenching your thirst with one of the house beers. The brewery also creates a social space in its downtown neighborhood, which bridges industrial buildings to pedestrian corridors linking to the large adjacent sculpture park. In keeping with its industrial past and artistic present, the brewery/restaurant beckons to patrons with a gleaming rooftop artwork—a life-size replica of the State of Liberty’s copper crown.