By AIA Northern Nevada
HONOR
Architect: Van Woert Bigotti Architects
Contractor: Miles Construction
Completion date: 2020
Location: Minden, Nevada
How do you make a dream come true? How does a flicker of thought turn into a viable, physical reality? That is what the Owner of the Bently Heritage Distillery in Minden, Nevada asked the team of designers, engineers and other creatives in 2015. The ten-acre former manufacturing plant “campus” had been abandoned for years. Though weathered and outdated, three of the seven buildings on the campus were deemed salvageable and targeted as the main structures for starting a new era of use. Two of those structures, which are directly adjacent to one another, the Mill Building and the Creamery, were vacant and of historical significance, aged over 100 years. The third, a windowless warehouse, was being leased to a small charter school.
The plan was to strategically take down (deconstruct) the four unusable, far too worn-out structures on the site and reuse those pieces and parts as salvaged material for the new construction, remodeling, and preservation of the existing buildings that would be re-purposed for distilling and production. The creative task was to design within the historical means of the structures, honor the viable “bones,” celebrate the character of the “skin,” and integrate the owner’s new vision with a design that respects and complements the history while viably functioning for today and tomorrow.
In response to the Owner’s request, the design team’s concept focused on the creative integration of old and new. Every program and functional need became an opportunity to ideate. It was a continual exercise of historical study, innovative thought, material and graceful detailing.
The Mill Building (11,000 SF), a distinct structure of near landmark presence along Highway Route 395, presented the opportunity to re-purpose the entire original structure. It wore a shroud of aged corrugated metal siding, which was removed to reveal a handsome three-story brick facility supported by a heavy timber structural grid. Its timber structure was meticulously disassembled and stored while steel columns and beams were craned in from above and placed within the original brick walls to create a seismic cage. The existing heavy timber posts and beams were re-installed to provide a sales and welcome center, public bar and private tasting room. The inside quadrant panels of the four original steel grain silos were cut out to create space within the silos for process equipment that now produces single malt whiskey. Two magnificent Forsyth copper stills imported from Scotland adorn the space between the silos and public area with large viewing windows into the production area from both the public bar and private tasting room. For code compliance, vertical circulation, restrooms, and ramps were integrated into the design to bring the 106-year-old building up to current standards. The public stair that transcends three floors is positioned in the original brick structure as a radial architectural icon adorned and detailed with cross sawn re-purposed douglas fir from the original structure as stair treads, then complimented by raw steel and subtle lighting. The stair becomes a sculpture of re-purposed material and enhances the interior experience and events.
The Creamery Building posed a very different challenge. At some point in the life of the Creamery Building structure, it functioned as a manufacturing plant, and the original structure had been transformed with a steel structure that retained the original brick façade. With that, only a minor portion, the entire façade, of the very original structure was retained for the major addition of a clear spirits and bourbon production facility for Bently Heritage Distillery. The large 100,000 square foot pre-engineered building attached to the Creamery historical façade was removed and a new brick and steel structure was added to the Creamery front to form the second building on campus. The new brick and steel are detailed to complement the historical front to create a handsome compliment to the Mill Building.
The old abandoned warehouse that housed the charter school was gutted and remodeled for offices, receiving and distribution. The design team elected to clad it in a dark standing seam metal panel system and recycled barn wood charred black to contribute to steel and brick’s overall campus look. Bright red doors accent the exterior for a touch of color and way-finding.
The landscape design consists of natural, indigenous plant materials, all drought tolerant, all in keeping with Northern Nevada’s high desert’s natural environment. The facility opened to the public in the spring of 2019 and has become one of the major economic generators in the small town of Minden, Nevada. What was once a community eyesore is now a source of civic pride and an example of preserving the past for a bright and prosperous future. There is a sort of life breathed into the details and materials of this design that aims to convey the essence of the Owner’s vision: to bring back to life these iconic historical structures to allow them to serve a new purpose and make more memories for generations to come.
Materials used for construction were recycled wherever possible from materials salvaged from demolished buildings on-site. Brick for the new portion of the Creamery was from an adjacent building that was torn down. The Mill’s heavy timber beams were salvaged, documented, stored, re-worked, and placed back into the building exactly where they were before. Wood studs (2×4) that made up old grain bins were re-purposed as wall paneling in the Mill. Metal panels taken from the four steel silos were used as the wall cladding of Well #One, which provides all the water on-site for the distilling process.
The goal was to provide a progressive, modern design integrated into buildings that are over 100 years old without compromising the historical integrity of what has become a community asset.
The Distillery is an “Estate” Distillery. All the product that goes into the making of whiskey, vodka and gin, is grown on the Owner’s 50,000-acre ranch. Barley, Rye, Wheat, Oats, Corn, Fruit, and even Sage and Manzanita for fusing are grown and cultivated for production less than 2 miles from the Distillery.
The mechanical design is an integrated system that meshes the distilling process equipment with the space heating HVAC equipment to provide a redundant free system of reuse, recycle and reclaim. All the excess water used for distilling is fed back into the HVAC system for its operation. The excess heat generated during the distilling process helps heat the buildings during the winter and is then recycled through a heat exchanger for cooling. A highly sophisticated computer control system orchestrates the energy interplay on a minute by minute basis. Also, all the landscape irrigation water is reclaimed “purple pipe” water.
The entire Bently Heritage campus has achieved a LEED Gold certification.
