“Breweries are often heavy and industrial, but with this project we wanted to go in the opposite direction: light, bright, and almost residential. Because of the name—Orange Bike—and owner Tom Ruff’s stylistic preferences, we began thinking about the space as a compact Fiat, focusing on Italian and midcentury modern elements, with some chrome and a generally tight design without too much fluff.

The goal is always for the feeling of the interior to match the product and its branding, so we worked with Jonathan and Melissa Motzkin at Makewell, who developed the brewery’s packaging. They created the blind bike drawings that appear in the bathrooms, which highlights how the design process isn’t always a straight line—you have to push and pull to find what best reflects the brand.

Jim Keeley of Keeley Crane Service worked on the build-out and was a tireless ally throughout the process. We had to fight against the industrial, raw space that the brewery occupies because we planned to evolve it into something it was not. We also had to consider that the Orange Bike team is actively brewing in the same space, so all the visible areas should look seamless. Built-in bespoke storage cabinets made by Stefan Rurak thread through from the tasting room to the brewing area, and large storefront windows allow you to really see the brewing process as it plays out. Tom was very dedicated to the equipment he purchased, so we made sure those pieces were front and center and lit correctly. We worked with Grace Rote from Light and Form Studio to establish continuity throughout the space.

The brewery has a lot of frontage, so there’s plenty of natural light, and a garage door opens up onto an alley that acts as an overflow space when the weather’s nice. The bar top is made from Richlite, a paper-based product that ages like leather. The bar face is black walnut with a bird’s beak edge detail that we worked with local millworker Thomas Mifflin to fabricate. Below that is a polished chrome kick, which adds a bit of that transit automotive element, and we tied that together with chrome edge banding on all the tables. The banquettes, which were fabricated by Ethos Carpentry with cushions by Pistol Pete’s Upholstery, have a periwinkle-colored vinyl reminiscent of vehicle upholstery. 

I find that smaller spaces like this are more challenging because you have to figure out how to fit everything in without it feeling too cluttered. Both Tom and his partner, Meg, had a clear vision that the space should feel clean and crisp, which is often harder than developing a language that’s layered and textured, but ultimately we hope we created the ‘anti-brewery’ they imagined.”

—Carrie Dessertine, founder of Mey & Co.