Shigeru Ban Architects have been selected to a new 420-acre campus for the owners of Kentucky Owl Bourbon just south of Louisville, Kentucky. The new project will convert the former Cedar Creek Quarry into a distillery, bottling center, and rickhouses. Working with landscape architects Design Workshop from Denver and Earthscape from Tokyo, the $150 million project will be built with three timber pyramids housing the distillery at the center of the development. The new plans come after Stoli Group purchased the Kentucky Owl brand in 2017.
Featuring diamond-shaped wood and glass panels, the three pyramid structures are show in new interior and exterior renders. Each structure will be integrated with visual elements around the narrative of the bourbon-making process. A vintage dinner train will be equipped to make a stop onsite, while the old quarry pits will be filled with water to create a series of large ponds for for fishing and swimming.
“We are honored to have been chosen to build Kentucky Owl Park and are eager to bring the joint vision of Stoli Group and Shigeru Ban to life,” said SBA Managing Partner Dean Maltz. “This is an opportunity for us to challenge ourselves like never before, as these plans serve as our first Kentucky distillery and incorporate unique highlights and nods to the industry and its history, while prioritizing light and a connection to nature, features the architectural world has come to expect from our firm.”
Kentucky Owl will continue to be produced separately in small batches, while the new distillery will mass produce new brown liquors. Stoli plans to integrate the new park into the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, and the complex is scheduled to open in 2020.
