Wildfether Distilling
Haddonfield, NJ
Awarded Best Historic Preservation and Adaptive Reuse by American Society of Interior Designers
History took a 166-year leap from a tired past into an energetic future, as we transformed a 1857 Victorian residence - which stood forgotten as a chopped up, drywalled office building for decades - into a spacious distillery, becoming an instant landmark and community gathering space on Kings Highway.
Guests can choose to gather in a variety of spaces, from an intimate tasting bar looking into the production area, to an upstairs with a large oval communal bar and variety of tables that provide different layers of intimacy, to all-season outdoor seating areas with equally elegant furniture that connects to the ambiance.
Outside, we rehabbed the entire fragile exterior envelope while keeping it historically accurate, rebuilding the first floor deck and adding a larger second floor deck, using salvaged brackets from a BCD residential project. We also added a chairlift to make the building wheelchair accessible.
Inside, the wood at the curved entry bar, production viewing window, and copper-detailed window wall & more, were all salvaged from the building’s old studs. The “patterns” are historic lath and plaster markings.
The exposed brick fireplace (previously drywalled) is crowned with a large custom Coop Forge metal feather. The brass, carbon, copper pick up the traditional colors of brick & stone, and the new colors of the distillery equipment.
We poured all new foundation to support new equipment, and integrated new mech, electrical, plumbing, fire protection to comply with modern code. We opened up long hallways with steel beams - which we hid with imaginative detailing, to create a flowing customer experience.
An intimate, soulful, custom Coop Forge booth nestles within old studs and looks back out into the Main Street.
