Bissel Brothers Brewery

SITUATION:

Noah and Peter Bissell selected a highly unusual home base for their family business Bissell Brothers Brewing: a 100-year-old former railcar repair building that once served the Maine Central Railroad Company in Portland. The historical charm of the building’s architecture was perfectly suited to a new life as a taproom and brewery. However, it wasn’t without its challenges.

PROBLEM:

In its past life, the brewery was a maintenance depot in a train yard. Railway cars were stabled in the building via entrance and exit tracks. These enormous openings – literally, large enough to drive a train through – offer enviable natural light to the new taproom, but their size also posed four potential problems during the restoration.

  • The cost of renovating the large area with construction materials would be prohibitively high.
  • The integration of cost-effective standard windows would be impossible.
  • Large swaths of glass, though affordable and attractive, would be vulnerable to high winds.

  • There was also a potential for energy loss through expansive glass areas.

CHALLENGES:

In its past life, the brewery was a maintenance depot in a train yard. Railway cars were stabled in the building via entrance and exit tracks. These enormous openings – literally, large enough to drive a train through – offer enviable natural light to the new taproom, but their size also posed four potential problems during the restoration.

  • Affordably fill the enormous space left by the train doors
  • Absorb sway and bending induced by wind.
  • Resist air and moisture infiltration

  • Conserve energy
  • Maintain the unique historic appearance of the old depot

SOLUTION:

  • A heavy duty, three quarter aluminum mulling system.
  • Vertical and horizontal nail fin so that they could apply the window into the to give it more rigidity.
  • We screwed through the sides of the frames to give it more strength with a plastic button-  adding strength to the whole unit to hold it together. We put a J filler around the whole perimeter to give it a nice, a nice clean look.
  • Because of the size of the pictures we couldn’t one ship them all put together. So they had to be field mulled. They needed the special rigid mounting clips so that they would keep the flex out of the window. We did  a three-quarter heavy duty mull versus a standard half inch mull to add support.
photo
photo
logo