Architecture Project (AP) – Farsons Brewery, 2012

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Architecture Project (AP) – www.architecture-project.com

Simonds Farsons Cisk has, since its founding eighty years ago, sought to communicate its aspirations through the architecture of its brewery. The original post-war building in Mriehel, in fact, is a significant milestone in Maltese Industrial art-deco architecture.

Having outlived the brewing equipment it houses, installed in the early 1950s and still in use until recently, the old brewery could not cope with continuing market growth. This, as well as technological developments in the production process, required the construction of a new state-of-the-art brewhall that would allow the company to maintain its high standards, meet production demands and exploit new export opportunities.

In fact, the whole building is no more than a container for the brewing process, housing its plant and equipment, iconic brewing tuns, and all necessary stores, silos and fermentation vessels. The result is an interior where the calm atmosphere of the ground floor housing the brewing tuns contrasts with the exciting chaos of the pipework feeding the barrels and casks.

The building itself is wrapped in an unassuming industrial skin, a protective shell accommodating the various building services while simultaneously assisting the environmental control of the interiors. Cooling is assisted through natural ventilation with the brewhall itself becoming a tangible expression of this strategy. In this way, the brewhall responds to its setting and orientation, fulfils its celebratory and representational role as a new icon for the company, and has also become a destination for visitors interested in the brewing history and process.

CREDITS

Architects: Architecture Project (AP)

Location: Mriehel, Malta

Surface: 7.400 m²

Year: 2012/built

Structure: In-situ reinforced concrete

Materials: Solid and perforated patinated copper sheeting, glass, translucent u-glass, off-shutter concrete, insulated sandwich panels and aluminium expanded mesh. (The production block is clad with solid and perforated patinated copper sheeting, ancillary areas are partly clad in translucent u-glass whilst the administration wing is clad in insulated sandwich panels and an aluminium expanded mesh which wraps around the building. Internally technical areas are plastered and painted whilst office areas are in bare off-shutter concrete.)

Project team: AP – Alberto Miceli Farrugia, Danica Mifsud, Charles Sciberras, Greta Caruana Smith, Matthias Plaehn, Alberto Favaro, Jelena Tomic, Alexia Rausi, Elaine Farrugia, Mohamed Elaida.

Client/Contractor: Simonds Farsons Cisk plc/ Attard Bros. Steel Structures Ltd., J.S. Dimech Ltd., Mediterranean Building Finishes Ltd., Avantgarde Projects Ltd., Xuereb Installations Ltd., Panta Lesco Ltd., Alan Debattista Ltd.

Building services: Mediterranean Technical Services Ltd.

Consultants: Lighting Design – Franck FRANJOU, Plasticien de l Environnement Nocturne

Photography: Kurt Arrigo and AP