Cowbell Brewing Co. won the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Certified Wood Award for using responsibly sourced wood products in the design of North America’s first carbon neutral brewery. The award is part of the Wood Design & Building Awards program. Allan Avis Architects received the award at the Toronto Wood Solutions Fair in Toronto on November 22.
Cowbell chose SFI-certified products for this beautiful brewery, restaurant and event space south of Blyth, a village in southwestern Ontario. It features a closed-loop brewery and an on-site carbon sequestration initiative.
Cowbell’s accessible, family-friendly farm covers 45 hectares and the building covers 2,400 square metres. Situated on a former working cattle farm, the Cowbell Brewing building and property were intentionally designed to recognize the farming heritage in Huron County. This heritage includes architectural style, but also building materials. Historically, barns in Huron County were constructed of stone and timber frames, built to withstand the test of time.
“We were excited to receive this award after the years of hard work and effort it took to complete this one-of-a-kind build,” said Jason Morgan, project architect at Allan Avis Architects Inc. “Cowbell Brewing said from day one that this destination brewery had to be authentic, which included the mandate that we be stewards of the land, having a keen awareness of the impact the building would have on the environment.”
Using certified wood-based building materials to enhance human health and well-being, address climate change, conserve biodiversity, and provide supply chain assurance was at the heart of the Cowbell Brewery design.
“The Cowbell Brewery is a prime example of wood’s versatility and appeal. Builders and architects use wood because it looks great, it’s easy to work with and it comes from a renewable resource,” said Annie Perkins, senior director of Strategic Partnerships at SFI Inc. “This project is also an example of SFI’s work to support solutions to global sustainability challenges through forest-focused collaborations including responsible sourcing and green buildings.”
The SFI Award is part of the only North American program to recognize, award and publicize excellence in wood architecture. The Wood Design Awards program from Wood WORKS! is a national industry led initiative of the Canadian Wood Council.
