The Pilgrim Brewer
Structure and Elevations
Supporting large, liquid-filled brewing vessels brings about a disjunction between the size of the required structural members, and the human scale of the craft. The resolution of this condition produces an interesting facet of the architecture, which is expressed in the elevations of the project.
The brewing works and the roof are supported by Parallel Strand Lumber (PSL) joists. The benefit of this type of engineered wood construction is its use of quickly-growing, second-growth trees, which are strengthened through pressure-gluing processes.18
A canopy of PSL members defines an eight foot module through the project. Where they are supporting brewing vessels, the exterior is clad in vertical louvres in front of horizontal window units. The louvres provide a visual screen to the interior, and reference the vertical cladding on heavy timber construction such as boat sheds and barns.
Where brewing vessels are not supported, the building is constructed using a traditional light wood framing system. It is clad on the exterior with a horizontal rainscreen, recalling the clapboard siding of nearby buildings.
Vertical louvres in front of milling area, Almon Street elevation
The brewery uses a rainscreen, rather than a weather barrier system, to better deal with Halifax's wind-driven rain by permitting the cladding to get wet, but afterward allowing the entire assembly to properly dry. The rainscreen is a low tech solution, appropriate to this scale of building, and one echoing the idea of craft in its manual assembly.
The façade is clad in eastern white cedar, chosen for its natural hardiness, its local preference as a residential-scale building material, and the lyrical thought that a building designed to produce aquaevitæ should be dressed in arborvitæ.
Louvres and rainscreen, Isleville Street elevation
Almon Street elevation (Click to enlarge)
Isleville Street elevation (Click to enlarge)