When we began the design for Firefly Distillery’s new facility, the first step was to visit their existing distillery and tasting room on Wadmalaw Island, SC to learn their history, better understand their brand, see their process, and sample some spirits. (Spoiler alert: they’re good.) Before putting pen to paper, it was important for us to know how Firefly started, where they are going, how they differentiated themselves in the industry and thus what functional spaces and visitor experiences to help create within the architecture.
The next couple of years included distillery research (see our Distillery Homework blog), design iterations and construction. The new facility opened in February 2020 and enjoyed a few weeks of hosting a record breaking number of visitors before the pandemic dialed down indoor gatherings. Firefly was able to pivot their distilling efforts to produce hand sanitizer to meet the moment and are now able to safely host visitors at the outdoor courtyard, tastings on the porch and socially distanced outdoor concerts.
Highlights of our research and how it dovetailed into our design
Firefly is a locally owned, family business who was one of the South Carolina Lowcountry’s best kept secrets until their inspired collaboration with the neighboring Charleston Tea Garden yielded ‘Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka’. Ever since, they have enjoyed a national audience and are a destination for tours, tastings and events. Therefore the building program included a gift shop, distillery, bottling line, lab, a tasting room, spirits retail section and multiple places for events (weddings, receptions, smaller meetings and outdoor concerts.)
The Firefly brand is southern, approachable, and laid back in the best way possible; think sitting on your porch with a drink in your hand, friends nearby and bluegrass playing in the background. This told us that while this will be a brand new, code-compliant facility, there should be moments of patina and casualness. Specialty craftspeople really brought the ‘soul’ into this new building. Shout out to coppersmiths, Khalima Lights for their handmade light fixtures, Limelight for the signage installation, Gil Shuler for the branding graphics and Lowcountry Case + Millwork for sourcing the reclaimed wood and executing our barrel stave design.
The Firefly folks, while innovative and forward-thinking, are also nostalgic and rustic with a side order of DIY. This inspired us to deconstruct wooden bourbon barrels in the back of our studio and incorporate them into the bar and light fixture designs as well as source reclaimed wood for paneling and metal roofing from a former Firefly structure as an interior accents.
The tasting bar design was born from deconstructing wooded barrels and alternating the position resulting in a varied texture and color rooted in distillery life. Bar counter is a custom copper fabrication. Beyond the bar is the spirits retail display where visitors can purchase bottles. Custom display / cabinetry designed by Rush Dixon Architects and crafted by Lowcountry Case + Millwork.
Copper nails make up the Firefly logo behind the check out counter. (Shout out to Limelight Signs for the many, many, many hours of hammering to get this effect.)
The gift shop greets visitors with a soaring, reclaimed wood clad vaulted space.
The day we discovered Khalima Lights, a local husband and wife team that handcrafts custom light fixtures, was a good day. Located on Wadmalaw Island, they produced all of the specialty lighting. Shown here are deconstructed barrel stave “clouds” designed by Rush Dixon Architects with Khalima’s Waycaster pendant and Edison bulbs.
The gallery where tour groups gather to begin the guided distillery tour, showcases Firefly Distillery’s history and process. Gil Shuler and Limelight were the MVPs of the info graphics and execution.
The distillery and tank room where the magic happens. Special thanks to Vendome Copper and Dalkita.
After the distillery tour, visitors are invited to a tasting bar to sample spirits of their choice. The back bar was designed to allow for the current Firefly spirit products to be displayed. Reclaimed metal roofing and wood was utilized to provide a rustic feel.
Close up of the spirits retail display which needed to be locked down during events. Rolling barrel stave screens slide to secure the products while maintaining visual connection.
We don’t know much, but we do know how to keep good company. See below for some of the all-star collaborators and craftspeople:
Seamon Whiteside: Civil Engineering + Landscape Architecture
ADC Engineering: Structural Engineering
Charleston Engineering: Mechanical, Plumbing, Electrical, Fire Protection Engineering
Dalkita: Distillery Consultant
Trident Construction: General Contractor
Gil Shuler: Graphic Design + Branding
Limelight Custom Sign Company: Signage
Khalima Lights: hand-made specialty lighting
Lowcountry Case + Millwork: interior millwork including tasting bars, spirits retail display, reclaimed wood paneling and barrel stave details.
Chris Smith Photography: All photographs