Aviation American Gin

Flagship production distillery & tasting room

“The design objective was to create a fully functioning gin distillery while allowing the public to visit and experience the art, science, and engineering behind the scenes of this acclaimed spirit. Locating an ethanol production room adjacent a tasting room (aka: bar), required careful planning, detailing and numerous safety systems. The entire design, engineering and contracting team worked together to seamlessly meld industrial functionality and social interaction, enhancing the overall customer experience.”  

– Darrin Filand, Senior Principal - fi architecture

Photography - Doug Walker Photography

Commercial - Tenant Improvement

Portland, OR - The brand was founded in Portland and now boasts its own production and customer experience facility in the Slabtown neighborhood. The 32,500 sf, mixed-occupancy facility includes, botanical storage and prep areas, neutral grain spirit bulk storage, ethanol production, bottling and packaging, finished product storage, shipping and receiving, office and staff support spaces, tasting room, retail and customer support spaces. Visitors, bulk spirits storage, deliveries and outgoing shipments occupy the south face of the facility. With limited exterior space available, much of the production cooling equipment is located on the roof.

Design features include:

  • Dual, 8,000 liter, Italian-made, Barison pot stills

  • Dual, 11,350 liter maceration tanks & botanical infusion system

  • Customer tasting and retail space with views to botanical prep and distillation equipment production spaces

  • Cross-laminated timber entry canopy and interior ceiling panels

  • Glue laminated heavy timber bar tops and customer tables

  • 5-panel digital media display wall behind tasting bar

  • Special customer experience celebrity escape room

Owner & Project Team

  • Owner - Diageo PLC (Aviation Gin LLC and Davos Brands LLC)

  • General Contractor - R&H Construction

  • Local Architect - LRS Architects

  • Structural – Catena Consulting Engineers

  • Civil – Vega Civil Engineering, LLC

  • Distilling Process Design – Heritage Distilling Co., Justin Stiefel, Al Jeroue, Tyler Scott

  • Process Pipe Designer – Harder Mechanical Contractors Inc.

  • Landscape Architect – Shapiro / Didway

  • Lighting Designer - LUMA

  • Brand Design - Sandstrom Partners

  • Acoustic Engineer - Tenor

  • Code Consultant - CODE Unlimited

  • Electrical Design Build - EC Electric

  • Mechanical Design Build - American Heating Inc