The Bent Barley Brewing Company tapped ArcWest’s brewery & bar expertise to design a new brewhouse in the Southlands Shopping Center in Aurora, CO.
The project was a tenant retrofit of two existing spaces for a total of 3,367 square feet of floor space. The available space was divided into 1,252 sf for the brewhouse, 1,498 sf for the seating areas (including serving bar), and 391 sf for the restrooms / support areas.
The brewhouse is based around a 10-barrel brewing system, provided through Portland Kettworks of Portland Oregon. The initial installation consisted of an integrated 10-barrel brewhouse, six 10-barrel fermenters and six 10-barrel brite tanks.
The facility was designed as an augmentation to the town concept employed at the Southland Shopping Center and has become a part of the community.
The architectural concept was to create an open community environment that both allows the required space and environment for brewing as well as highlights the brewing process. Overhead elements were added to bring down the scale of the space and create a more intimate environment without closing down the openness of the spacious interior environment. Process flow was a key factor in the layout of the seating area as well as the brewing environment. Due to limited access to loading areas, the storage areas and mill were located immediately inside the brewhouse with a clear access path through the sitting areas. The remainder of the facility was laid out to locate the serving bar at the epicenter of the space.
The brewery opened to the public on November 16, 2018.
