Firestone Walker Brewing Company is a craft brewery based in Paso Robles, California. The brewery has experienced significant success, gaining recognition with a number of international awards for its beers. And it now operates three facilities – the others located in Buellton and Venice.
In fact the brewery’s growth has required the addition of a new 10,000 sq. ft. brew house at its Paso Robles headquarters in order to meet the steep increase in demand for its products.
Harris Architecture was mandated to design the new space with the goal of increasing production capacity. As well as being a fully functional brewery, the Paso Robles location also offers tours to visitors, and after an 8-month construction period, the new addition was opened to the public in May, 2017.
“The whole space has a turn of the century iron works style,” said Kyle Harris, who led the project for Harris Architecture. “There is a lot of galvanized metal and exposed bolts combined with tiling and concrete floors. It’s retro with a tech edge.”
The team from Harris worked closely with the Firestone Walker founders to ensure that every element of the new space was on point from a design and usability perspective. Everyone involved in the project was very conscious of choosing the right pieces to present the facility as the iconic, signature location in the Firestone Walker family of facilities.
Lighting the space was an important piece of the design. The lighting had to be functional as well as fitting aesthetically with the design intent of the space.
In collaboration with Prudential Lighting Products, the Harris team identified Luminis products as the perfect solution. Luminis’ Torx and Aramis products were chosen. Twelve Torx TR2450 pendants were selected to illuminate the brew deck. The Torx TR2450 products are decorative and functional ceiling pendants with a frosted acrylic refractor and an LED light source. Delivering more than 12,000 lumens per product, the pendants are ideal for areas where efficiency, reliability and aesthetics are important. To carry the aesthetic throughout the facility, two more Torx TR2450 pendants have been included in the visitor center.
Four Aramis AR148 pendants were used for additional illumination, while thirteen wall-mounted Aramis AR148 luminaires are positioned around the perimeter of the room. Most of the Aramis AR148 wall mounted sconces are in pairs – one as an uplight, and one as a downlight in each pair – providing a striking accent. The 6” cylindrical luminaires have an LED light source and deliver 2,050 lumens.
“Functionality and performance were key requirements in the lighting product selection,” said Harris. “The Torx and Aramis products from Luminis not only delivered on those requirements but also perfectly fit the industrial aesthetic in the rest of the building.”
Outside of the building, Harris chose Luminis’ Syrios SY602 products, complete with LED light source and unique integral tilting mechanism for precise directional aiming. Used primarily to illuminate the Firestone Walker signage and accent the curved roof, the products really catch the eye.
Finally, Eclipse Mini EC612 products illuminate the exterior of the main entrance providing the complete lighting experience from outside to inside – a testament to the wide array of interior and exterior products offered by Luminis. The Eclipse Mini EC612 models, durable and designed to withstand extreme weather conditions, are mounted to the wall either side of the front door and on the columns supporting the covered entry.
All of the interior lighting is on a dimming channel, enabling adjustment depending on the time of day. During the night, brew house lighting is turned up to deliver 100 foot candles of light at floor level to assist with nightly cleaning. In the daytime, the lighting is scaled back to deliver 45-55 foot candles at floor level for standard use.
“We did extensive calculations and modelling to make sure the lighting would be at the right level, and that we got the light in the places it was needed,” said Harris. “Inside the brew house the lighting hits the metal and the stainless steel brew tanks, and the results are striking.”
The reaction of the client has also been positive. Firestone Walker Co-Founder David Walker said: “The lighting is industrial, beautiful and functional; not an easy combination to achieve when lighting a modern brew house – it is elegantly done.”
