Rich, full bodied and crisp… and we are not just talking about the beer! More and more often we are seeing breweries wanting to reflect the sensation of that first sip of a pint in the interior design of the brewery itself.
Aesthetics are becoming increasingly important to brewers, as production facilities become tourist attractions, enticing those from all over the world to attend tours, demonstrations and tastings.
Being part production facility and part public attraction, choosing appropriate flooring materials that will support both is not always an easy task.
With the floor being one of the largest surfaces within any facility, getting its colour right is critical for setting the scene. Brewers may want to reflect branding, dazzle with bold tones or inject a specific atmosphere, such as using urban greys or browns to create an industrial aesthetic.
This design is not just limited to the gift shop either. Some facilities offer full tours of the brewing process, allowing customers into the production zones as well as dedicated ‘visitor’ areas. Sites like these have to constantly present a clean, engaging and safe space in order to impress the public and potential customers.
Whilst the design possibilities are only limited by imagination in more commercial areas, the design planned in breweries needs to be able to survive the daily operational activity as well. This can often include the movement of barrels, spillages of beer and ingredients as well as steam cleaning, point loading, UV exposure, impacts, foot traffic and heavy pallets – all of which would quickly take a toll on an insufficiently robust finish!
To meet the duel demands of visuals and durability, many breweries have utilised colourful polyurethane coatings thanks to the tough, long-lasting properties of this material. This has been illustrated recently at a couple of leading Australian craft brewers.
Safe walkways are highlighted in red here
Bright Brewery in Victoria, shown above, installed a surface that matched its name, choosing a vivid yellow finish for the main floor area with a complementary red used for walkways.
As well as being eye-catching, this is also a great way to keep the site safe. The clear distinctions between the colours separate the visitor walkway from the production zone, making it much easier for staff and customers to navigate around the facility and reduce the risk of accidents.
In complete contrast, the White Rabbit Brewery, located in the Little Creatures Brewery Village in Victoria, chose a colour that tied into the subdued traditional tones of the old-brick building.
The coral red colour used here reflects the vintage style of the brand
The coral red colour used for the production room’s floor also tied into the iconic vintage style of the White Rabbit brand.
All of the breweries mentioned above have used coloured polyurethane floor coatings thanks to the seamless and impervious nature of the material. This is extremely advantageous in busy beer production environments, as it means that any spillages, dust or contaminants can be rapidly removed, ready to welcome the next beer-hungry customers. Join us in our next Brewery blog post to discover more benefits of using polyurethane systems.
If you would like to know more about using colour in your brewing facility, or appropriate flooring solutions for your facility, leave us a message below and we will get back to you.
