Narragansett Brewery: Fox Point Winner – Architecture Critic Morgan
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Narragansett Brewery: Fox Point Winner – Architecture Critic Morgan
There’s nothing that is more Rhode Island than Narragansett Beer. A Gansett is right up there.
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The century-old brewery in Cranston, which at one time employed 850 workers and in 1915 was the largest brewery in New England, was razed in 1998. The name survived, but the beer was brewed as far away as Lacrosse, Wisconsin and Ft. Wayne, Indiana, absurdly dislocated from its eponymous home, and it just wasn’t the same. Thanks to Mark Hellendrung, Narragansett Beer is back in the Ocean State, and its new home is a notable architectural addition to our harbor front.
Thanks to Narragansett CEO Hellendrung, Providence now has a festive gathering place in the tradition of the European beer hall. In fact, 3,000 people came to the brewery’s recent three-day Oktoberfest celebration. And in good weather, the 330-capacity beer hall opens out on a large elevated patio that overlooks India Point Park and the harbor.
Hellendrung, a Providence native, and graduate of East Providence High School and Brown, started Nantucket Nectars with two of his college buddies. When that wildly successful juice line was sold to Snapple, Mark declined an executive position at their suburban New York headquarters. He wanted to stay in Rhode Island, and sixteen years ago, he bought Narragansett and resuscitated the iconic brand. Then three years ago, Hellendrung bought the Tockwotten Street warehouse from Brown University to house the resurrected brewery.
Business and gustatory aspects aside, the Narragansett Brewery is a welcome example of adaptive reuse and smart design. Hellendrung is more than just a good businessman, as he has shown himself to be environmentally responsible, as well as a discerning architectural patron.
Taking his cue from the former warehouse–a remnant of when this area was an active port, architect Daniel Herchenroether of Herkworks mainlined an appropriate industrial aesthetic for the building’s conversion. The Miami of Ohio and Roger Williams-trained designer thankfully avoided any cute beer garden tropes, and focused his design on the brewing of beer, form following function. All the gleaming stainless-steel machinery is on display. Brewing is the art here–nothing else needs to intrude between the maker and the consumer.
Since nothing can surpass the gutsiness of the suds making process,
Herchenroether wisely did not compete with the sculptural stainless-steel vats when shaping the large single-space public bar and restaurant. Like a factory itself, the 330-capacity taproom is a straightforward no-nonsense modern composition. Fellow imbibers may provide color and interest, but exposed structural elements of steel I-beams and wood provide an appropriately no-nonsense geometry. Take away the bar and the furniture, and this could be mistaken for an avant-garde art museum in a converted New England mill or a trendy New York City loft.
There are some event spaces yet to be realized, as the old 20,000 square feet warehouse building has not been completely renovated. Eventually, there will be a roof deck–a ideal belvedere for harbor views. The roof itself is part of the practical green design. Rainwater collected on the roof goes down behind the steel panels to the pervious pavers in the parking lot, which act as a filtration system. The water is then cycled to the wildlife garden in front of the brewhouse, with its abundance of indigenous plants. Furthermore, Hellendurung’s landscaping includes planting the berm in front of the brewery, even though the land is owned by the DOT.
The Narragansett Brewery demonstrates what you can be done when there is a sensitive, committed developer, someone who cares about what he builds, and who sticks around to make sure that it continues to be more than the promises of slick renderings. With this architectural triumph, Narragansett Beer proves it is a great neighbor.
