The former dock is reinstated by the BrewYard - providing the infrastructure for importing the raw hops and malt and for exporting the beer in casks and kegs. The new industry provides a sense of activity and production back to Sunderlands riverside.

The project uses the shell of the existing brick building on site to house the on-site pub. The two wings of the main BrewYard spaces link to this building - extending its perspective through the production spaces and out to the riverside.

The pub, built inside of the shell of the existing building, opens out the view through to the main production spaces - linking the consumption components of the project with the production aspects. The juxtaposition of the individual and industrial scales is reinforced through public interaction around the project.

The project sits within a wider network of processes - from importing the raw ingredients, delivering to independent breweries around the region and distributing the brewed beer to pubs and shops regionally and internationally. The relationship between the production, consumption and development spaces are expressed over the three levels of the building.

Model showing the relationship between the existing building (being used for the pub), production & development spaces and the dock.

Relationship of the existing brick building on site, proposed structures, dock and surrounding structures.

Sectional perspective through pub and production spaces with the hanging research rooms above.

Relationship between public level and the production spaces. Views between the two intend to emphasis the juxtaposition between the individual and the industrial scales.

3d printed hanging rooms suspended over production space

link between existing and proposed structures

detail cutting through production space and hanging rooms

hanging room study model

site location of the project and its context with the future developments in the area

The project proposes the formation of the North East Brewing Collective (N-E.B.C) - a collective of independent brewers in the North East. The intention is that acting collectively will enable them to operate on a larger scale and compete more meaningfully with the global breweries and national pub companies.

The establishment of the Mackem BrewYard on site is based within the context of growing numbers of independent brewers - forming the N-E.B.C and collaborating with the BrewLab and Darwin Brewery to initiate the project on site.

History and development of the UK beer industry.

Existing site location and context

This initial study looked at creating a floating microbrewery on the site of the former Vaux Brewery as a way of reactivating the riverside and making a spectacle of the brewing process.

Parody of the Sunderland City Councils approach to developing its post-industrial sites.

First prototype design for an installation on the Wear riverside - paying homage to the former coalmining industry.