Problem:
Dawn & Marc Schulz had dreamed of opening a brewery in downtown Auburn for several years. They surveyed many different properties and struck on the old John Stevens building at the corner of State Street and Dill Street. Huge plate glass windows and exposed brick walls were the perfect shell to work in and the Prison City Pub & Brewery was born!
Solution:
Dawn was easy to work with because she knew what style she wanted- industrial chic- and she had lots of cool images and ideas to help with the inspiration process. I immediately reached out colleague Keith Traub, of Unite Two Design (UTD), to do this custom build. His aesthetic, resourcefulness, creative use of materials, and impeccable design sense were the perfect fit for this project. We kept the materials to wood, glass and metal, and the design modern, sleek and simple. Keith then set out to build the tables, the booths, bar, common hi tops, metal shelving, lighting fixtures, the “BEER” sign and the brewery doors. The other doors we found in the Bartolotta family archives- the two pairs of entry doors work perfectly to transition the look of the façade with the interior style of the space.
The color palette we chose were shades of gun metal grey and black, and for artwork I trolled the archives of the Cayuga Museum for original historic black & white photographs of Auburn Correctional Facility. We also have a panel from the museum’s prison exhibit on display, thank you very much! Dawn had a great idea to do a “mug club” and we worked with Brian Redfield of Image Agent to create a mug shot wall for taking photos. Brian also created the brewery process vinyl graphics that wrap the front three walls to the right of the entry. Laura Coburn, of Coburn Design, was another member of our talented team. She created the graphic design pieces for the Pub- the logo, website, menu & merchandise design. Below are links to the Pub team’s websites.
For the exterior, Dawn found big chunky steel letters while traveling, and there was just enough height for Anthony Bartolotta & Co. to mount them to a black backboard, again, tying into the existing look of the façade. We carried that black through to the matt ceiling tiles, track lighting and the black restroom toilets.
Everyone could not be more pleased with the results on all levels. Taking in the austere effect of the space you could place it anywhere, from Brooklyn to San Francisco, but lucky for us it’s right here in Auburn, NY. So, come check it out for yourself!
