Completed 2017
1,500 SF Tasting Room & Retail 
1,000 SF Support Spaces
Commercial fit-out

Privateer Rum distills its award-winning spirits in an 18,000 industrial warehouse space in Ipswich, MA. Representative of the close design-build collaboration between the Privateer management team, Brayton-Dee Builders and Oudens Ello, this new, 1,500 square foot tasting room provides a venue for the public to experience Privateer through tours, tastings, and events, functionalities that were previously missing from the operation. Embedded within the existing distillery, the space features the Privateer owner Andrew Cabot's former 1930’s racing sailboat hull, transformed into a functioning bar with a fleet of sail-like porcelain lights suspended above it. The fir wood panelling that lines the room evokes the feel of a boathouse, neatly integrates a retail area and illuminated display areas for bottles of rum and conceals new restrooms and back of house storage and events support spaces.  Two walls of restored vintage factory windows create transparency to the distilling tanks and pipes beyond - an opportunity for the public to observe the distillery in action. Massive planks of live oak, salvaged from the Charlestown Navy Yard, were assembled into back-lit screen at the entrance to the space. All of these elements combine to create an atmosphere that reflects the unique personality of a brand with strong ties to its seafaring history.