Last August, District Distilling, Washington D.C.’s first combination distillery-kitchen-bar, opened with much fanfare inside a 19th Century row house along historic 14th Street. A 2014 law change now permits local distilleries to pour spirits they make onsite.
Since that opening, the location’s designer, GrizForm Design Architects, has been tweaking the lighting for the ground floor distillery that unexpectedly has become a tourist attraction and also accommodates parties.
The distillery features two copper pot stills and a 38-plate twin copper column system. “The stills are quite beautiful, with copper and stainless steel accents,” says Griz Dwight, who owns the design firm. So throughout District Distilling, he tried to sustain that visual by combining, wherever possible, two types of materials, such as copper and wood, leather and steel, light and mirrors.
District Distilling Co., the four-year-old owner of the restaurant, was instrumental in getting the distillery law changed, says Dwight. It was also hands-on during the project, whose Building Team included Potomac Construction (GM), Allen & Shariff (MEP), Structura (SE), and Hospitality Kitchen Design (food service).
Carl, the Germany-based company that supplied the distilling equipment, didn’t have a representative on site, so the team had to figure out how to assemble the stills, the larger of which are 2½ stories tall and prominently visible throughout the building. The stills—which distill gin, vodka, rum, and whiskey—have portals and interior lights so patrons can look in and watch the process. (Reserved tours at $10 per person.)
District Distilling converted three row houses that had been restaurants into a two-floor distillery and restaurant that includes ground-floor retail. Image: Eater/R. Lopez
Dwight says the 8,000-sf space is actually 3½ row houses that were once separate restaurants but had been vacant for a while. The team removed walls to open the room, which includes the second-floor, 139-seat restaurant and bar. District Distilling also has a ground floor retail area that sells bottles of the spirits it produces and other merchandise.
The distillery was scheduled to release its first spirit, called Corridor Vodka, this fall, and what it makes will eventually be offered for the cocktails served at the bar and restaurant.
The demand for distilleries that sell their products to the public is undeniable. More than half of the domestic business generated by the 1,280-plus active craft spirits producers in the U.S. is driven by direct sales at a distillery or tasting room, according to the American Craft Spirits Association’s 2016 report.
Dwight says his firm is working on another distillery-restaurant-bar, Farmers & Distillers in Mt. Vernon, Va., that’s scheduled to open December 13, but will lean toward the restaurant and be more of a finishing distiller than District Distilling. The website Eater reports that another combination, Cotton & Reed, is set to open next year near the District’s Union Market.
The 8,000-sf District Distilling is part of a growing trend of distilleries selling directly to the public. Image: District Distrilling Co./Amber Frederiksen
Related Stories
Apartments | Jun 27, 2023
Average U.S. apartment rent reached all-time high in May, at $1,716
Multifamily rents continued to increase through the first half of 2023, despite challenges for the sector and continuing economic uncertainty. But job growth has remained robust and new households keep forming, creating apartment demand and ongoing rent growth. The average U.S. apartment rent reached an all-time high of $1,716 in May.
Apartments | Jun 27, 2023
Dallas high-rise multifamily tower is first in state to receive WELL Gold certification
HALL Arts Residences, 28-story luxury residential high-rise in the Dallas Arts District, recently became the first high-rise multifamily tower in Texas to receive WELL Gold Certification, a designation issued by the International WELL Building Institute. The HKS-designed condominium tower was designed with numerous wellness details.
University Buildings | Jun 26, 2023
Addition by subtraction: The value of open space on higher education campuses
Creating a meaningful academic and student life experience on university and college campuses does not always mean adding a new building. A new or resurrected campus quad, recreational fields, gardens, and other greenspaces can tie a campus together, writes Sean Rosebrugh, AIA, LEED AP, HMC Architects' Higher Education Practice Leader.
Standards | Jun 26, 2023
New Wi-Fi standard boosts indoor navigation, tracking accuracy in buildings
The recently released Wi-Fi standard, IEEE 802.11az enables more refined and accurate indoor location capabilities. As technology manufacturers incorporate the new standard in various devices, it will enable buildings, including malls, arenas, and stadiums, to provide new wayfinding and tracking features.
Green | Jun 26, 2023
Federal government will spend $30 million on novel green building technologies
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will invest $30 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to increase the sustainability of federal buildings by testing novel technologies. The vehicle for that effort, the Green Proving Ground (GPG) program, will invest in American-made technologies to help increase federal electric vehicle supply equipment, protect air quality, reduce climate pollution, and enhance building performance.
Office Buildings | Jun 26, 2023
Electric vehicle chargers are top priority for corporate office renters
Businesses that rent office space view electric vehicle (EV) charging stations as a top priority. More than 40% of companies in the Americas and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) are looking to include EV charging stations in future leases, according to JLL’s 2023 Responsible Real Estate study.
Laboratories | Jun 23, 2023
A New Jersey development represents the state’s largest-ever investment in life sciences and medical education
In New Brunswick, N.J., a life sciences development that’s now underway aims to bring together academics and researchers to work, learn, and experiment under one roof. HELIX Health + Life Science Exchange is an innovation district under development on a four-acre downtown site. At $731 million, HELIX, which will be built in three phases, represents New Jersey’s largest-ever investment in life sciences and medical education, according to a press statement.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Jun 22, 2023
NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars release conceptual designs for ‘stadium of the future’
Designed by HOK, the Stadium of the Future intends to meet the evolving needs of all stadium stakeholders—which include the Jaguars, the annual Florida-Georgia college football game, the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl, international sporting events, music festivals and tours, and the thousands of fans and guests who attend each event.
Architects | Jun 22, 2023
Keith Hempel named President of LPA Design Studios
LPA Design Studios today announced the promotion of Chief Design Officer Keith Hempel, FAIA, to president of the 58-year-old integrated design firm. Hempel, who joined LPA in 1995, has been an integral part of the firm’s growth, helping to develop an integrated design process that has produced industry-leading results.
Industrial Facilities | Jun 20, 2023
A new study presses for measuring embodied carbon in industrial buildings
The embodied carbon (EC) intensity in core and shell industrial buildings in the U.S. averages 23.0 kilograms per sf, according to a recent analysis of 26 whole building life-cycle assessments. That means a 300,000-sf warehouse would emit 6,890 megatons of carbon over its lifespan, or the equivalent of the carbon emitted by 1,530 gas-powered cars driven for one year. Those sobering estimates come from a new benchmark study, “Embodied Carbon U.S. Industrial Real Estate.”