Guinness Storehouse
Dublin, Ireland
RKD Architects

Glass and steel pour on the charm in this old brewery

© Gerry O’Leary

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Opened in 1904, the Guinness Storehouse is believed to be the first Chicago-style, steel-framed structure erected in the British Isles. Though it now enjoys an iconic status in Dublin, the landmark was nearly demolished after Guinness closed the plant—which housed fermentation operations—during the 1980s. A decade later, Guinness tapped designers RKD and Imagination to envision a new use for the building. The architects decided that minimal intervention would honor the building’s heritage.

The Storehouse now accommodates a visitor’s center, corporate training and conference facilities, and three functioning bars that serve, what else, Guinness. While the Storehouse’s polychromatic exterior remains unaltered, the interior underwent radical changes that nevertheless maintained its industrial character. The entire steel frame grid, made of rolled joists and plated girders, was stripped of a century’s worth of accretions before being repainted its original aqua blue. Much of the old brewing equipment, abandoned when operations transferred elsewhere, was also restored.

A new atrium, in the shape of a Guinness pint glass, rises through all of the building’s eight levels. It is capped by a glazed roof that lets natural light pour down as far as the ground floor, where it scatters off white enamel brick walls. Throughout, the architects used clear glass for the sides of balconies and in partition walls, which allows uninterrupted views of the Storehouse’s vast scale and structure.

A series of escalators run diagonally across the atrium void and carry visitors to the Storehouse’s roof, where a coup de théatre awaits them: Gravity, a circular bar located at the building’s northwest corner. The highest point in the city, Gravity boasts glass walls offering an almost 360-degree view of Dublin and the surrounding countryside.

Formal name of Project:
Guinness Storehouse

Location:
Dublin, Ireland

Gross square footage:
170,000 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$49 Million

Owner:
Diageo Plc

Architect:
RKD Architects
59 Northumberland Road
Ballsbridge
Dublin 4, Ireland
353-1-668-1055 tel.
353-1-668-3699 fax
www.rkdarch.com

Left to right: Elizabeth Kirby, Denis Brereton, David Browne, Mary Kane, Geert Douterlungne