ÅBEN Brewery / pihlmann architects
Textual content description offered by the architects. In-built 1932 as a contemporary(istic) large-scale butchery in Copenhagen’s meatpacking district, since 1991 it has hosted a spread of economic companies, right now turning into a meals manufacturing facility 2.0. Positioned inside the metropolis, ÅBEN restores the commercial legacy of the constructing and turns it inside out by inviting the general public into the brewing processes, consequently blurring the modern distinction between public and manufacturing. Initially, the area functioned as the chilliness corridor, the place 980 carcasses hung from a strong meat hanging rail system for 12 hours till the caloricity had left their our bodies. The rails are nonetheless current, however the carcasses are changed with metal vessels linked by kilometers of uncovered piping.
Semitransparent curtains, harking back to these attribute of slaughterhouses, a low-hanging galvanized metal catwalk for servicing the vessels, in addition to conical fermentation tanks, partially separate the general public areas. Positioned inside the current grid of butcher rails, the tanks are standing solitarily on the ground beneath the archetypal factory-like saw-tooth roof, which places the prolonged ceiling peak on full show, defining the constant rhythm of the areas. The commercial legacy materializes because the brewing equipment is accompanied by nothing however unfussy furnishings and stripped-down area, responding as a clean canvas that highlights the panorama of technical installations.
The qualities of the unique corridor are emphasised by the positioning of the brewing equipment, collectively defining the spatial structure and ambiance. On the entrance, there aren’t any skylights and a reasonably low ceiling. This inherent intimacy is emphasised by the 14 serving tanks hung horizontally beneath the ceiling, additional compressing the expertise of the area, and relating it extra carefully to the dimensions of the physique. The ultimate publicly accessible area accommodates nothing greater than the most important fermentation tanks, in addition to an open kitchen island positioned beneath the meat hanging rails.
The transformation highlights two interrelated flows. Whereas the beer being produced turns into more and more subtle from the again to the entrance of the constructing, as a rational line of manufacturing, the areas grow to be exponentially pure and understandable as industrial amenities because the visitor strikes in the direction of the origin of the uncooked product. There’s a pragmatic logic to this reality, because the undertaking is in the beginning deliberate in keeping with manufacturing rules.
Concurrently, it goals to problem the modern thought of a manufacturing unit that purely focuses on maximizing productiveness. By recognizing each technical set up – which nearly makes up your entire undertaking – as a spatial set up, the undertaking seeks to discover the architectural potentials of the unique meals processing facility in tandem with trendy technique of manufacturing.
The Meatpacking District is designated as considered one of 25 Danish industrial monuments and enjoys particular safety making each the inside and exterior listed. This transformation has left the constructing even nearer to its authentic state than it was beforehand. To not romanticize industrial aesthetics, however reasonably as an unfolding of rational and sturdy rules striving to streamline manufacturing while exposing its inherent architectural qualities.
