Shelter Brewery, Busselton

Shelter Brewing Co has been featured on the world’s biggest architecture website, ArchDaily.

Each month, ArchDaily attracts 220 million pageviews and 14 million unique visitors. It has 3.4 million Facebook fans and 3.1 million Instagram followers, and on Google, it’s the number one ranked architecture website by a mile.

The ArchDaily website states that it receives hundreds of project submissions every day, “…and our mission is to carefully curate and select the best architecture around the world. By publishing your work, you can inspire the millions of people who visit our site to design a better world.”

Shelter’s architect Paul Burnham said it was an honour to be featured on ArchDaily.

“Honestly, I’m chuffed. ArchDaily is the go-to website for every architect and serves as a global reference point for the world’s most interesting architecture, the latest designs and showcasing the best of the best,” Burnham said.

“I am wrapped. I’ve already been emailed by budding architects in Italy, Cairo and Istanbul who want to come and work with me which is very flattering.”

Burnham, who also designed Little Creatures, Clancy’s Fish Bar (City Beach and Dunsborough), Balthazar (Perth), Il Lido (Cottesloe) and The Margaret River Chocolate Co Shop in Perth, said that the aesthetics of the building purposefully reflect the functionality of the fabrication and the celebration of beer.

Proudly standing on the Busselton Foreshore, Shelter Brewing Co opened in November after 15 months of construction.

Shelter is a fully self-contained microbrewery with all storage, milling, brewing, and canning facilities contained within. The architecture is centred around the working brewery capable of brewing one million litres of beer per year and designed to be open and form part of the venue in the Main Hall.

The impressive two-level structure features include function rooms, a lounge area, a viewing gallery, beer garden, café and a kids’ playground complete with a custom built wooden retro caravan.

The 10.6 metre floor-to-ceiling windows are designed to maximise the stunning view of the jetty and Geographe Bay, with the 120-person first-floor function room and balcony offering uninterrupted elevated views.

Shelter Brewing Co began construction in August 2019, designed with an emphasis on sustainability that includes 100-kilowatt solar panel system on the twin-gabled roof that produces 80 per cent of the brewery’s power requirements.

The beachside north-facing building is fully designed around passive solar principles. In Busselton, the sun journeys between a low 35 degrees in winter solstice to a near-vertical 80 degrees in the peak of summer. The large north-facing glazed areas and wide verandahs provide comprehensive summer sun shading and conversely, deep winter sun penetration. In winter, the centrally heated concrete floor provides warmth.

The reliable sea breezes create natural ventilation via the large openable doors and windows. In addition, the 6.3-metre diameter fans circulate air as needed.

Externally, the Corten steel cladding is designed to rust over time to form a protective layer, and on the back wall is a beer-inspired mural by artist Andrew Frazer in earthy colours that complement the cladding.

Licensed for 650 people, the venue is 1,078 square metres on the ground floor, 427 square metres on the first floor and sits on an 1,850 square metre site adjacent to the Busselton Visitors Centre.

General Manager Paul Maley said that Shelter is more than a craft brewery, it’s been designed from the start to be a place for people to come together.

“Shelter is a place for locals to meet, families to get together and visitors to include in their itinerary of Busselton, whether they stop in for a quick coldie or stay for a long session, have a bite to eat after a swim or celebrate a special occasion – it caters for many different needs,” Maley said.

“Shelter is a big venue, but the way it’s been designed means that it still feels welcoming.

“There are different areas to sit and enjoy the beer, some smaller spaces, and a mix of indoor and outdoor spaces,” Maley said.

Shelter Brewing Co is a joint venture between two fourth-generation local families: brothers Matt, Jason, Mike and Chris Credaro and brothers Zeb and Asher Packard-Hair.

Open from 7am for coffee and bagels with the brewery open 10am to 10pm pouring its own beers, namely Extra Pale Ale, India Pale Ale, Summer Sour and Lager, along with a large selection of south-west wines and a food menu that focusses on simple food made beautifully.

For more information and bookings, visit www.shelterbrewing.com.au