AMERICAN BREWERY
Baltimore, MD
Built in 1886, the imposing landmark of northeast Baltimore is a National Registered Historical Place. The city, in a comprehensive effort of revitalizing the neighborhood with this as its catalytic project, selected in November 2005 a team that includes the prominent developer Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse to restore the building as the Baltimore headquarters of Humanium, a state-wide non profit social service agency based in Columbia. The 33 million adaptive reuse and restoration includes the historic brewhouse, adjacent bottling plant and courtyard on top of underground storage caverns. A series of terraced raingardens were designed to collect the majority of stromwater runoff. The entire outdoor spaces were covered with plants or with permeable paving material to reduce runoff. South facing courtyard is shaded by a bosque of specimen trees. Landscape elements such as crushed brick walk and hop covered arbor relate to the Brewery’s history and support modern day uses.
Client: Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse and Humanium
Architect: Cho, Benn Holback + Associates
Award: American Institute of Architects, Maryland, Public Building of the Year, 2009