By Stephen Crafti
Byron Bay has become a popular destination for tourists, both local and international.
It’s also headquarters to the Stone & Wood Brewing Company, producing 1 million litres of beer each year.
The new Stone & Wood development received a Commercial Award for Regional Architecture from the Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter).Credit:Tom Ferguson
“The plan was always to establish a flagship brewery here,” says architect Harley Graham, who assisted the company to deck out their original humble shed – also in Byron Bay.
As a teenager, growing up in Byron Bay during the 1970s and ’80s, Graham still recalls the ramshackle industrial area, now renamed The Byron Arts & Industry Estate, where the new headquarters is located.
“It was then just a series of sheds, some of which were used to make surfboards and boats. The smell of fibreglass still resonates,” says Graham.
Located 1.5 kilometres from Byron Bay on Ewingsdale Road, which is also the main thoroughfare into the township, the new Stone & Wood development received a Commercial Award for Regional Architecture from the Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter).
Unlike many award-winning buildings this simple structure, on an irregular 4000 square-metre site, is in essence a big shed.
But it’s clearly more than this, as it has been fitted out and ‘dressed up’ by local craftspeople.
“Our brief was to create a place large enough to produce a significant amount of beer,” says Graham. “We were also guided by the need to create a destination for locals and tourists, a place where the community could gravitate.”
Given the scale of the shed, with an apex of 11 metres, there was no point in looking for a kit shed and repurposing this for a beer company.
The project was divided into two parts, the first being the shed builders who constructed the steel and concrete tilt panels, together with the Dampalom panels (allowing the roof to create additional light).
The second group were the local carpenters who clad part of the exterior with iron bark and also camphor laurel, considered a weed in New South Wales. This will eventually fade to a silvery hue in time.
Given the climate and the fact it’s a brewery it’s only natural that a beer garden, adjacent to the main entrance, was included.
Working closely with landscape architects Plummer & Smith, this forecourt/entrance is densely planted with large pandanus trees.
This verdant edge is also carried through to the shed, with the lounge area framed by potted plants on shelves and suspended from the ceiling.
Unlike many breweries, where there’s a glass wall between the vats and tasting/seating areas, here patrons can be seated close to the vats. There’s a concrete bar and benches for tasting the various beers.
There are also trestle-style tables through the centre of the premises and even a series of steps and gangplanks that allow people to get that much closer to the source: giant vats that skirt the exposed ceiling.
“We wanted people to see how the beer was made, as much as enjoying the food on offer (a canteen/kitchen is located to one side),” says Graham.
Local artist Paul McNeil, a former Mambo artist, also made his mark with his abstracted waves painted on a concrete wall.
Harley Graham Architects also wanted the same sense of connection for the three founders’ offices on the mezzanine level.
Loosely veiled by a perforated steel mesh balustrade, the sight lines from these offices through to the vats is unimpeded.
Graham compares this estate to others such as the Chelsea Market in New York, once a meat packing district and now one of that city’s most exciting precincts to visit.
The Byron Arts & Industry Estate, like New York, has also become a drawcard for leading Australian fashion labels who have established headquarters here, such as Spell and Afends – both making significant ripples on the global fashion scene.
And while Graham still recalls the many mechanical workshops and light industry that established this estate in the 1950s and ’60s, today it’s attracting a creative cohort who also appreciate their local beer.
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