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80-year-old abandoned Japanese house transformed into craft brewery
Japanese craft brewer Whale Brewing has enlisted the help of interior design company Case-Real to transform an 80-year-old abandoned house in Yobuko into a site fit to brew beer.
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During the Edo period, Yobuko prospered as a whaling base. In more recent times the town has been well known for squid fishing, but youth migration has led to a declining population and a number of vacant houses over the past few years.
Whale Brewing, the site of which has seen the renovation of one of these abandoned buildings, is hoped to rejuvenate the town and bring young people back to the area.
The brewery has been built on the site of an 80-year-old traditional Japanese house, left abandoned with leaks, facade deterioration, and structural issues. Following the dismantling of the interior, Case-real discovered within the abandoned building a large space with a maximum height of approximately nine meters and an impressive hut structure.
Architects at Case-real chose to incorporate the existing strengths of the house into the new brewery design, turning the second floor above the brewing site into an open atrium.
According to Designboom.com, where this story was first reported, the architects said of the project: “By combining the new functions of the brewery with the original characteristics of the building, we hope that this will become a new landmark in Yobuko, firmly rooted in the local community.”
Whale Brewing opened in December following renovations of the building, offering a Pale Ale and IPA on tap.