“I always appreciate when an architect speaks the language of the product that it’s trying to sell, and when they understand the importance of that product as historical, tasteful, aged. All those characteristics are there in the architecture.”
— Paola Calzada
Location Austin
Client Fierce Whiskers Distillery
Architect Overland Partners
Design Team Adam Bush, AIA, John Douglas Burleson, Charles Schneider, AIA, Jakob Hyde, Ramiro Guardiola, Angela Toscano Ramos, Rui Xiong
Contractors Sabre Commercial (Distillery), IE2 Construction (Tasting Room)
Structural Engineer Datum Engineers
MEP Engineer EEA Consulting Engineers
Civil Engineer Southwest Engineers
Life Safety Consultant Austin Permit Service
Interior Design – Tasting Room Brand Bureau
Solar Array One80 Solar
Fierce Whiskers is the first full whiskey production and barrel storage facility permitted within the city of Austin and the first distillery of its kind in Texas. The distilling building, with its rooftop solar arrays, runs east/west for ideal solar orientation; it houses production, with milling, cooking, fermenting, and distilling spaces on full display. The rickhouse is oriented north/south to maximize heat gain potential for barrel aging. A first-of-its-kind louver system and open grate floors modulate airflow around barrels to control the aging process. End bays house egress stairs and barrel lifts, with additional louvers offering glimpses to the barrels inside. Visitors can observe the entire process from the facility’s tasting room via overhead doors connecting back- and front-of-house spaces to the outdoors.