A small factory (its total area is about 1460 m2) is located in a forest area near the town of Gavle. This is the central part of Sweden on the very coast of the Baltic Sea, famous for its spectacular landscapes. To fit a completely utilitarian industrial building into such an intrinsically valuable landscape is an extraordinary task. Moreover, the customer's plans are ambitious: in the near future, a whole complex is to grow around the plant - the Whiskey Village, where everyone will be able to take an excursion.
The architects acted on the contrary, revealing a completely alien element to the environment. The process of making whiskey is clearly shown to visitors: through transparent glass walls, you can observe all stages, from threshing and mashing of malt on the upper floors to placing barrels with the final product in the lower part of the building. Moreover, the transfer of wort from one stage to another occurs under the influence of gravity.
The choice of materials is quite typical of industrial architecture: concrete block walls with small square windows, steel-clad external malt storage and elevator, solid glazing systems. Interestingly, the transparent façade is tilted outward: this solution not only improves visibility from the outside, from ground level (the wall faces the future central square of the "whiskey village"), but also allows to screen excess solar energy and heat.
