THE GOOD BEER CO. BREWERY PROPOSAL
MIA MILLARD
CLIENT - The Good Beer Co / James Grugeon
James Grugeon was recently named on LinkedIn’s 2022 inaugural list of ‘Top Green Voices in Australia and New Zealand’, a curation of leaders sharing their perspectives and passion for sustainability, climate change and protecting the environment. Grugeon is a change-maker. An environmental and social entrepreneur, who has held leadership roles in social enterprises, non profits, start-ups, corporates and government.
James is also one of the Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leaders and has inserted his passion for action against the climate crisis into his business.
James started The Good Beer Co. - Australia’s first social enterprise of its kind – to brew beer for good causes and inspire change by demonstrating what purpose-led businesses can achieve. The Good Beer Co. exists to sell beer to raise funds and awareness for important cuases. Ten percent from every beer sold goes to charity partners.
The Good Beer Co. have ingeniously correlated the importance of causes such as Marine Conservation, the RSPCA, Same Sex Marriage advocation, and the encouragement of inclusion within communities, and beer culture and appreciation within Australian society into a brand that not only tackles matters of importance but lures their customers in through a genuinely rewarding product.
PROJECT BRIEF
James Grugeon is looking to expand The Good Beer Co.‘s brand and outreach through a new brewery located along the south NSW coast.
The Scarborough Hotel has been purchased by Grugeon, in the hopes that the location and scenery will entice not only local traffic, but day-trippers from Sydney and tourists driving to the Sea Cliff Bridge - another iconic tourist destination.
Grugeon has requested a new fit-out of the ground floor, to make way for a custom bar design, restaurant dining and lounge spaces.
The bathroom amentites and kitchen facilities will remain in their existing location on both the ground floor and lower leve;l which will be accessed by those drinking and dining in the beer garden.
The outdoor bar’s exterior will also be redesigned to reflect the ground floor design and create continuity throughout the spaces.
A defining feature of the build will be the modest but eyecatching in-house brewery, seen through glass dividing walls, showcasing the authenticity of The Good Beer Co. as a brand, and their products.
There will be a focus on sustainability, and the adaption of the brand’s identity into the design and concept of the spaces. Because of the importance of the work the Good Beer Co. does and supports, the design must reflect the client and their values.
PROJECT STATEMENT
Elevated on the cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the Scarborough Hotel sits in the landscape in a real, and perceived, connection to land, ocean, sky and community. The Scarborough Hotel has been the established local landmark in the landscape and social fabric of the community since 1886.
Visitors journeying south to the Scarborough Hotel travel via the Sea Cliff Bridge, Lawrence Hargrave Drive, an experience that transports the traveller along a fly-over that alternatively hugs and parts from the land and sea to join the sky.
Mia Millard imagines the up coming expansion of the Scarborough Hotel in biophilic design principals, employing form, function and materials to connect visitors with the natural environment, showcasing the unique location of the venue and to reflect and uphold James Grugeon’s business principals.
This is a considered approach to provide the optimum venue in which to realise James Grugeon’s belief that important conversations can be had by getting together over a beer.
And that’s what The Good Beer Co is all about – starting a conversation.
SITE - SCARBOROUGH HOTEL
Address: 383 Lawrence Hargrave Dr, Scarborough NSW 2515
Population: 308 (2016 census)
Built: 1886 LGA: City of Wollongong
The Scarborough hotel and its picturesque ‘Sea Cliff Beer Garden’ is located on the beautiful north Illawarra coast. Perched directly above the sea with views along the coastline to Sydney.
Scarborough is a small northern seaside suburb of Wollongong on the south coast of NSW. The Scarborough Hotel opened in 1887 and still stands. It was named as such at the time, before the name stuck to the town itself. Not many pubs can boast to having a town named after it but that’s exactly what happened to the suburb of Scarborough. Having never been rebuilt or drastically renovated, the heritage listed Scarborough Hotel is the oldest licensed premises in the City of Wollongong.
SITE LOCATION
Scarborough was originally known as South Clifton. The hotel was opened in the area in 1887 and the South Clifton railway station and area was renamed after the hotel in 1908.
The site lies on Illawaara Land whereby local communities of Aboriginal inhabitants and are the Traditional Custodians. Urban development has greatly affected the lower escarpment slopes through the removal of natural flora and the loss of soil and rock. The scaro decends to Bulli through rainforests of brushwoods, tall ferms, conifer-like brown pine, cabbage trees and sassafras.
According to the 2021 Wollongon Census there are currently 325 people residing in Scarborough, with 50.5% identifying as male and 49.5% identifying as female. The median age group of the area is 41 with 59% married, 5.2% divorced, 1.2% widowed and 35.7% never married.
The Scarborough Hotel resides in Land Zone C4 under the Woollongon City Council - pertaining to Environmental Living, and is classified as a Class 6 Building - (1) Restaurant, (2) Bar Area.
LOWER LEVEL FLOOR PLAN
• Outdoor Bar
• Beer Garden Seating
• Firepit
• Pergola Seating
• In-house Brewery
• Guest Amenities
