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photo of Georgetown Brewing Company
Photo: Aaron Leitz

Georgetown Brewing Company

Seattle, Washington

Georgetown Brewing Company

Seattle, Washington

  • Design Principal

    Tom Kundig

Hot-rolled steel, bold graphics, and oversized sliding steel doors become the signature elements of the design in this transformation of a nondescript warehouse building into the tasting room and brewery for Seattle’s Georgetown Brewing Company.

Taking a cue from the no-nonsense attitude of industrial buildings, two concrete corner panels of this tilt-up structure were removed with sliding steel panels taking their place. When open, the re-entrant corner serves as a dramatic entry to the tasting room. A lone beam cantilevers out ten feet to support the brewery’s logo. The sliding steel doors not only complement the building’s industrial character, but also function as a large billboard to passerby.

Inside, the original steel and concrete ceiling was uncovered and left exposed. Customers can view the action of the brewery through a glass wall inside the tasting room. Local fabricators built the bartop with wood salvaged from the old Rainier Brewery.

In 2019, Georgetown Brewing Company expanded their tasting room, continuing the design story of the original space. The expansion looks onto an active corridor where cans and kegs are constantly on the move between production, storage and distribution. Opposite this window, a 19’6” x 15’8” glass door frames views of the new patio and neighborhood beyond, filling the interior with natural light. A manual mechanism slides the full volume of the door to the far corner of the expansion, allowing the activity of the interior to spill outside.

Stand-up tables, integral amphitheater seating and a firepit provide a variety of zones for casual gathering throughout the crushed gravel patio. On a raw concrete wall adjacent to the brewery’s main entrance, the “relic” – a faint outline of a once-connected structure – has been deliberately preserved to juxtapose the building’s modern and historic forms.

Team