Church of Oak Distillery / ODOS architects

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Text description provided by the architects.Now, after almost one hundred years, the distillery is being re-imagined to produce whiskey once again. The revived facility, which will retain its original mill race aqueduct, malting house, store, and furnaces, will again have the capacity to produce high-quality products for the international market. Central to the concept is the juxtaposition of striking modern design alongside rich historical architecture. This reflects an innovative modern brand, informed by a history of tradition in the Irish Whiskey industry.Sitting majestically on 4.5 acres of beautiful land, the structures are bounded to one side by the Royal Canal, once used by our 19th-century predecessors to transport whiskey in great casks to Dublin on horse-drawn barges. The facility contained within will address and focus upon the canal as it once did, providing a rich social and cultural destination to the public while restoring the site’s original use with a functional economic activity, true to the routes of this agricultural land.The purpose of the proposed development is to provide a high-quality, contemporary whiskey distillery and visitor experience within the grounds and fabric of the original mill building, kilns, and warehouse. The re-use of these existing structures, including the original early nineteenth-century mill and various later additions will be central to the overall design, which celebrates the contrast between new and old while complementing existing local attractions such as the Canal andMonasterevinitself.