Norwood, MA Kaplan Construction transformed a 20,000 s/f warehouse into a craft brewery for Castle Island Brewing Company. Located at 31 Astor Ave., the brewery opened to the public on December 11.
Kaplan’s focus was to modify the existing warehouse and complete the mechanical infrastructure necessary to support Castle Island’s specialized equipment so that brewing could commence before Thanksgiving 2015. A 3,000 s/f section of concrete floor was promptly removed so that a new reinforced floor system with a urethane floor coating could be installed to support the 12 stainless steel tanks that can each weigh up to 28,000 pounds when full of beer.
The team members for this $600,000 project included Parametrik Architectural Visualization, Dan Bonardi Consulting Engineers and Fitzmeyer & Tocci Associates.
As concrete work progressed, Kaplan and their team of subcontractors met frequently to plan and coordinate the myriad of mechanical and electrical piping that would be needed to support the brewing apparatus. As many as seven aerial lifts were utilized over extended shift work hours to install 4,000 linear feet of electrical conduit, 3,500 linear feet of mechanical piping and all of the other components needed to get the operation on line on time and for the right price.
“Kaplan has been an amazing partner for us. From day one, they worked with us to find creative ways to stay within our limited budget,” said Adam Romanow, owner of Castle Island Brewing Company. “We had to take an empty box and fit it out to our very specific needs in a very short time frame. We couldn’t have realized our dream of opening our own brewery without them.”