VELUX SKYLIGHTS SHINE BRIGHT IN CRAFT BREWERY
Harriet and DJ McCready were frequent users of the video store that operated from the heritage building until 2017. They often discussed what they could do with the building once renting movies gave way to online streaming. One day it became reality…
BREWING EXPERIENCE
DJ has been working in the brewing industry for more than a decade. “Originally I’m from North Carolina and I started as an intern at a micro brewery there.
Micro breweries were going gangbusters in the US and I worked for several of them until I ended up as the head brewer at the brewery where I had once been an intern.
After arriving in Australia seven years ago I set up my own micro brewery on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.”
IDEA BREWING FOR YEARS
“We often went to the Blue Mountains for weekend getaways and we both love it here. So the idea of establishing a micro brewery in the mountains slowly matured.
It took us a couple of years to find the ideal place — a heritage building in the centre of Katoomba.
It had been neglected for decades but we knew we could make it into an incredible brewery. When the video store closed, we were ready.”
HERITAGE HEADACHES
“The building code is strict and the heritage listing complicates matters further”,
Harriet adds. “It took us a year to get all approvals through and another year before we could open the doors to Mountain Culture Beer Co. It was a difficult and costly process and we only succeeded because we were able to secure grants.
Our aim was to undo what others had done and restore the building to its former glory.”
Bright days for the brewers
One of the main design ideas of the restoration was to show the bones of the building with naked walls and an open ceiling that would turn the heritage beams into a feature. VELUX skylights quickly became part of the discussions…
NATURAL LIGHT
“We wanted to create a warm and welcoming space”, explains Harriet. “Natural light was critical to achieve this and VELUX skylights were by far the best way to get natural light into the building.
As it turned out, there were other advantages of VELUX skylights that we hadn’t considered but nevertheless appreciate every single day.”
HOT AIR AND STEAM IS SUCKED OUT
“We enjoy the view to the skies through the VELUX skylights when we brew”, says DJ. “It feels less like work and more like being outside in the open.
The brewing process creates a lot of heat and steam but the moment we open the skylights, it all disappears into the thin mountain air.
All our staff know how to operate the skylights and blinds….it’s easy as.”
ENERGY SAVINGS
“We didn’t think about it at the time but the VELUX skylights help us save energy as well.
On a hot summer day the cross ventilation through the skylights help keep us nice and cool — a lot of heat gets trapped in the ceiling and the skylights let it escape. Without VELUX we would need a lot of fans, maybe even air conditioning, to keep us cool.
On sunny days we don’t even turn the lights on…natural light in abundance flows through the VELUX skylights.”
VELUX adds a cool vibe . . .
“The best thing about our VELUX skylights is something you can’t see or touch”, says Harriet. “They simply add a cool vibe that’s very much in tune with the people who are attracted to Katoomba. The town is teeming with nature lovers and creative people like artists, musicians and photographers.”
BRINGS THE OUTSIDE IN
“The first two things people notice when they walk through the door are the brewing equipment and the ceiling with the exposed beams and VELUX skylights.
People look up and go ‘wow!’. Besides the light and ventilation, the skylights help create a cathedral-like feeling of space that our guests absolutely love.”
DIFFERENT VIBE NIGHT AND DAY
“During the day you can follow the weather through the skylights.
One moment the sky can be deep blue — the next moment rain starts pounding and the skylights close automatically.
At night you obviously don’t get the natural light but instead you can watch the stars and the moon. Day and night, the skylights help create the vibe that defines this place.”
WORK IS EASY
“The skylights make working days easy for the staff as well”, adds DJ.
“Most our staff — ourselves included — love the outdoors and don’t like being inside for extended periods of time.
Guess what, the skylights bring the outside in. Even on a beautiful day you don’t feel like you miss out quite as much as you would without skylights.”
Beer garden with a view . . .
The Mountain Culture Beer Co. has VELUX skylights outside as well. Harriet and DJ built a deck with horizontal views to the mountains and vertical views to the sky through the skylights. Harriet explains…
WATCHING THE RAIN AND CLOUDS
“Even in our beer garden we decided to have skylights. They brighten up — even on cloudy days — and you always feel you’re out in nature.
Whatever the weather is doing, you can follow it through the skylights. It’s actually quite cool to look up and watch the rain and clouds pass by.”
PART OF NATURE
“The majority of our guests love to be outside, almost regardless of the weather.
Be it to check out the weather or admire the night sky, the skylights give them the feeling they are part of nature.
The skylights will play an even more important role when we eventually close in the beer garden to create more protection from the elements.”
SKYLIGHTS IN THE BATHROOMS
“Adjacent to the deck are our two bathrooms.
They used to be dark and dingy with no natural light. I know how important a nice bathroom is for me when I’m out, so I insisted on VELUX skylights in both bathrooms. They made all the difference.
All of a sudden there was natural light and a feeling of space. Both crucial in a small room where vertical windows would compromise the privacy that is so essential in a bathroom.”
Perfect for the mountains
VELUX is Made for Australia and tested for anything Australia can throw at a skylight. The Blue Mountains throw more at a skylight than most other places on the continent…and DJ has seen some of it already.
MOUNTAIN CLIMATE
“Our location in the Blue Mountains is about 1,000 metres above sea level so the weather can get pretty interesting up here.
We get freezing temperatures, snow, ferocious storms, torrential downpours, hail, bushfires…you name it, we have it.
It’s a great comfort to know that VELUX skylights are tested and approved for everything we’re ever likely to encounter.”
BUSHFIRES CAME CLOSE
“During our first few months in business we experienced the worst bushfires in living memory. The bushfires came very close to the brewery but we always felt safe.
With brick walls, steel roof and BAL-40 rated VELUX skylights, the Mountain Culture Beer Co. is one of the safest places in Katoomba during a bushfire.”
EASY BUILDING APPROVAL
“The fact that VELUX is tested for everything has another big advantage: at the building approval stage you have one less thing to worry about.
VELUX has done all the homework and you simply present their documentation to the certifiers.*
If everything else had been as well documented as VELUX skylights, we could have saved a lot of time and money in the restoration process.”
Downloads
Click here to download the full Mountain Culture Beer Co. Velux Skylights Case Study
