Fort Point Valencia

Fort Point Valencia is a flagship beer hall and restaurant for San Francisco’s Fort Point Beer Company. Working closely with the design team and contractor, we created millwork that feels like furniture, modernizing yet epitomizing the classic biergarten.

Fort Point Beer Company’s award-winning beers and strong graphic identity have long made them a Bay Area favorite. This 3,000 square foot Valencia Street tasting room and restaurant is their first foray into how that design rigor and commitment to quality translates into a physical space. Bold colors and graphics, refined details, and minimal sensibilities compliment the building’s good bones - high ceilings, exposed timber columns and trusses, and natural light. We worked with a discerning design team and group of exacting craftsmen to play our part in transforming this space into a new take on the classic biergarten.

We worked closely with Fort Point’s creative team to hone in on details and materials that align with their identity. An iterative investigation of materials, edge conditions, and finishes gave the client a clear understanding of material tactility. Our scope included detailing and field-installation of two bars, fourteen table tops, and a window bench. Our main objective was to make the millwork feel like fine furniture. 

The main bar is standing-room only, thirty-five feet in length, and designed to appear as a monolithic wood box on a plinth. The full length of bar and its end caps are mitered in order to achieve this look, going so far as to grain-match the caps to enhance this appearance. Heavily rounded-over corners make a surface that is nice to lean against and even nicer to touch. A fourteen-foot long low counter sits adjacent to the main bar, closely linking the bar, entry and window bench. A field of counter-height circular seating fills the main volume of space, with four booth tables and three two-tops toward the rear of the room. This project combined both shop and on-site work for the design, fabrication, and installation of a challenging, yet rewarding, millwork project that underscores Fort Point’s identity.

When / Where
October 2019
Mission District - San Francisco

Scope
Millwork
35’ long bar, 14’ long counter, 14 table tops, window bench

Collaborators
Fort Point Beer Company
Arleo Architects
UpCycle Builders
Jig Shop