SOUTH CELLAR, NEW GLARUS BREWING CO
Involvement: Architect, Supervising Professional, Construction Manager
Project Objective: The New Glarus Brewing Co needed to expand their brewing cellar to keep up with growing capacity. They would need to fit 16 fermentation tanks, measuring roughly 14’ diameter by 44’ high, into a site approximately 6,000 SQF. The owners requested the design mimic their existing cellar, a metal building with traditional gambrel style roofed barn and a stone foundation.
Some design obstacles
The site had existing built obstacles on all 4 sides. On three sides were existing buildings. The fourth side has a 15’ high landscape retaining wall. Finally, there were 2 sewer lines across the site, which could not be moved and were taken into consideration for the large tank footings and placement.
The building would require a fire wall separation, as the facility was nearing to its square foot allowance based on occupancy.
The close placement to existing buildings required snow load increases and structural adaptions due to drifting on adjacent buildings.
Roof clearance required above the large tanks exceeded the zoning maximum building height. I represented the owner while working with the local municipalities for a variance request, which was granted.
The state requested changes to the proposed fire sprinkler system which would inflict undue hardship upon the brewing process. Therefore, I represented the owner while working to get a variance from the state, which was granted.
Great consideration was given to the design for construction sequencing, as the building had to be built around the tanks, with inches to spare. Excavation, footings, and back-filling had to be done in segments as we only had one small corner of access.
The tanks were built and designed in Germany. This required extra planning and clear communication for coordination as teams worked across language differences and imperial to metric conversions.
