City Barrel Brewing
Industrial Arts: Trendsetting Microbrews in an East Crossroads Hotspot
City Barrel Brewing Company is located in the East Crossroads area arts district of Kansas City, a trendy neighborhood with a diverse following for all kinds of things to feast upon. From food to microbrews, eclectic boutiques, coffee shops, art galleries, music venues, design-savvy businesses, and the artists themselves, it’s a unique and authentic cultural hub that invites discovery at every turn.
The building that houses City Barrel was built in the 1890s. The space that it now occupies was originally a walkway in between the two buildings on either side. It was enclosed by a developer in the 1950s.
Located in a district that is known as “Brewer’s Alley,” the finished space is casual and inviting with a distinctly raw, industrial vibe. The entrance features a roll-up garage door, and the cobblestone floor is an aspect that has survived since its original construction. The design details are sleek and modern, juxtaposed against a backdrop of exposed brick and reclaimed wood.
Visitors dine and sample brews in the same cavernous space where the beer is crafted. The wood behind the bar was reclaimed from the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, and the tables and chairs were commissioned from a local craftsman.
The dining area is open to the kitchen, and guests can wander across the cobblestones into the brewery itself to see where the magic happens.
Its two stories can accommodate 125 guests on the first floor and 25 on the second-floor barrel deck, a round, highly recognizable wooden patio designed to look just like a beer barrel from the outside.
Other original features that were preserved include brick archways and walls, and the now-frosted windows from the buildings that used to peer out into the alleyway, back when that’s all it was.
01
The Ask
We were already familiar with the building, as we had, in the past, worked with the building owner on other projects. Based on this relationship, we were recommended to the client as a firm that could assist them with all aspects of getting their project designed and permitted.
The client initially prepared the conceptual layout of the restaurant. For the brewery itself, the equipment was pre-selected and laid out according to logistical requirements and the brewer's preferences.
We prepared the final design documents and the construction documents to submit for permitting. Our role was first to ensure that their equipment would all fit into the space and then to design the services around that. This entailed accounting for all of the interactions that would occur in the building, including the customer journey as well as the core activities of cooking, hospitality, and the brewing itself.
02
The Challenge
The primary challenge we faced was with the building itself. It had been modified several times to accommodate other users. The spaces were chopped up, and all the utility services had been combined, separated, and altered on multiple occasions.
By the time the design work was started for this project, the space was still open to other parts of the building, and the utility services were cross-connected to other parts of it. In addition, the water service and the electrical service requirements were going to exceed the capacity of the building.
The space that the brewpub would occupy was located right in the middle of the building. Because of other businesses and uses in the building, the code required that the restaurant be fire-separated from the adjacent spaces. We established the necessary fire separation, the utility separations, and new entrances into the building were all appropriately addressed.
03
The Solution
City Barrel Brewing is off to a great start. They hit the ground running and became very successful in a short space of time. Even though they only opened in February of 2019, City Barrel is already recognized as one of the better brewery restaurants in the East Crossroads area.
They have been mentioned by the anchor on WDAF Fox 4’s Morning Show several times and have enjoyed plenty of coverage in the Kansas City Star as well as foodie web publications like Feast , and independent culture magazines like The Pitch and Flatland .
