HOUSTON — Fans of Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. will have a new place to enjoy Houston’s Most Creative beer when the popular Houston craft beer destination opens its new three-story, 28,000 square-foot brewery and full-service restaurant next year. Located on Summer Street and adjacent to The Silos on Sawyer in the Washington Avenue Arts District, the brewery’s new location and trademark culture of creativity will be a symbiotic neighbor within Texas’ largest artist enclave.
Designed by Houston-based Method Architecture, the new brewery and restaurant will offer multi-sensory watching, drinking and eating experiences. Entering through an iconic 25-foot-tall buffalo-shaped gateway, Buff Brew visitors will land in the first-floor production area viewable from both a “theatre-in-the-round”-designed tasting bar and from second-floor windows that overlook the expansive brew-making operation. For those who wish to take their suds Silos-side, the first floor will open to an outside dog-friendly beer garden.
Along with brewing-view windows that run along the expanse of the brew floor, Buff Brew’s second floor will feature a 200 seat full-service restaurant with an urban context balancing contemporary finishes and panoramic views of downtown Houston. Topping the new brewery and restaurant will be a third-floor private event room with a dedicated balcony, and a 5,600 square-foot open-air roof deck where fans can look out onto Houston’s skyline or down through an extraordinary 30-foot skylight that begs visitors to peer two floors down into the production area.
“First Ward radiates creative energy. There is Genius literally bouncing off the walls,” said Rassul Zarinfar, Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co.’s founder and CEO. “It’s humbling and inspiring to join the incredible ecosystem they’ve built at Sawyer Yards. We’ve never played it safe, we’ve never cut corners, we’ve always challenged ourselves and our fans to push past the common expectations and through to the next big idea. There is literally nowhere on the planet that I would rather build our future home.”
“We are thrilled to be working with Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. again,” said Jackie Rye, Method’s project team lead. “As Houston’s most creative brewery, we wanted the architecture to embody the spirit and values of the company, so we collaborated with Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. and the engineers to push the envelope. The result is a design that tells the story of the brewing process and that is appealing to both visitors and hardcore Buff Brew fans.”
Just as the brewing process takes natural ingredients and turns them into man-made products, Rye explained, the new Buff Brew will feature reclaimed wood, a mixture of metals and brick, translucent panels, and murals featuring local Houston artists.
“The building and overall experience will create a memorable ambiance that absolutely fits within the arts district,” Rye said.
Ground-breaking will occur this Winter, and the project should be completed by the end of 2018. Along with Method, the project team consists of H2B, Inc., Dawson Van Orden, Pinnacle Structural Engineering, Wong and Associates and Earth Engineering.
About Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company
Founded in 2011 by Rassul Zarinfar and Ryan Robertson, Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. is a privately-held craft brewery dedicated to elevating expectations of what’s possible in beer. Combining traditional brewing concepts with a forward-thinking approach driven by flavor theory, Buffbrew challenges every assumption. With creativity as its core value, Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. has created more than 70 unique brands in its first 6 years, drawing inspiration from the pioneering history of Texas and the adventurous spirit of a culinary city. Distributing to a cumulative 30,578 square miles (an area bigger than Ireland), Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. is the largest self-distributing brewery in Houston and additionally distributes to Austin, Dallas and San Antonio. Buffalo Bayou beers can be found in quality markets, restaurants, and retail locations. For additional information about Buffalo Bayou Brewery Co., visit buffbrew.com.
About Method Architecture
Method Architecture is a uniquely ego-free architecture firm, committed to a systematic creative process that focuses on clients and their needs first and foremost. Operating with the flexibility of a small firm, but with a big reach, Method is a full-service architecture firm specializing in tenant finish and ground-up projects encompassing industrial, corporate interiors, healthcare, hospitality, breweries, retail and more.
About Sawyer Yards Creative Campus
The Sawyer Yards Creative Campus spans 40-plus acres of industrial warehouses near Downtown, in Houston’s Historic First Ward neighborhood. Densely occupied by art studios, galleries, restaurants, unique fitness concepts, breweries and a public art plaza, this area has become an important local arts and entertainment destination. In addition to major art openings and recurring markets, Sawyer Yards regularly hosts public programs in partnership with the Washington Avenue Arts District – a state-recognized cultural district boasting the largest population of working artists in the country.