Eye-catching distillery twists and turns through Kentucky landscape

Purveyor of Kentucky bourbon Blue Run Spirits has revealed plans for a new Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)-designed headquarters and distillery in Georgetown. The eye-catching building will be defined by a twisting form inspired by a local spring and will reduce its grid-based energy needs with a focus on natural light and solar power.

The project, named Meander, will be centered around a main building that will measure 35,000 sq ft (roughly 3,250 sq m) and contain the distillery and the company’s headquarters, plus there will be a 20,000 sq ft (1,850 sq m) warehouse for storing barrels of aging whiskey.

Its overall design is meant to evoke the circuitous journey of the limestone-rich Royal Spring. Its sloping roofline will wrap around trees and water features, and will sport generous glazing to maximize daylight inside. There will also be significant landscaping surrounding the building, including a large amphitheater and walkways.

Additionally, at least some of Meander’s electricity will be sourced from solar shingles, which offer the benefits of solar panels but resemble a traditional roofing material. BIG took a similar approach to solar power for its collaboration with Heatherwick Studio on Google’s HQ.

BIG/Blue Run Spirits

“For Blue Run, we have boiled the entire process of whiskey-making down to a single linear sequence – from distilling to maturing to bottling,” said BIG founder Bjarke Ingels. “The half-mile long process meanders through the gentle hillsides creating bends and banks, inlets, and outlooks. A single shingled roof of photovoltaic tiles twists and turns to maintain optimal orientation even as the activities underneath require grandeur or intimacy. In the same way the Royal Spring is shaped by how the water flows through it, Blue Run Distillery is shaped by the flow of the whiskey and the processes and people who make it.”

Meander is expected to begin construction in 2023 and to be open for business sometime in 2025.

Source: BIG