The project began as a self-initiated experiment in how an overlooked building could acquire a new role without waiting for a conventional development process.
The architectural strategy works with the existing industrial structure as a framework for overlapping uses. New interventions support flexible occupation and allow different communities, programmes and rhythms to coexist, keeping the building open to change as its users and activities evolve.
Typology
Adaptive reuse / Mixed use
Location
Brno, CZ
Client
KOGAA
Year
2019
Size
500 m²
Status
Built
Team
Tomáš Kozelský, Alexandra Georgescu, Viktor Odstrčilík, Dan Ševčík, Tomáš Vižálek, Ondřej Mráz
Photography
Boys Play Nice
Awards
BIG SEE Interior Design Award 2019 — Grand Prix; Grand Prix Architektů 2019 — Finalist; Dezeen Awards 2020 — Longlist
Beyond the conversion itself, The Distillery became a test of architecture as a catalyst. By bringing people and activity back into a vacant property, the project demonstrated how limited physical intervention can generate a wider social and urban effect and informed KOGAA’s later work with Social Reactors.
