The Blatz - Office Entryway
SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
Ascend Design functioned as the general contractor and interior design team for this project i.e. choosing finishes for walls and floors, paint specifications, furniture choices, light fixtures as well as artwork design and fabrication.
Specific pieces designed and produced for the space:
• Wall coverings featuring vintage Blatz Brewing advertisements, bottle openers and hops vines.
• Illuminated bottle opener sculpture on the exterior that casts patterned shadows at night
• Custom illuminated directories for the business tenants in the building
• Bottle cap pendant light featuring frosted acrylic tiers
• Custom hop vine pattern and metal cladding for elevator interior
Milwaukee is lucky to be the home of The Blatz. Valentin Blatz started his brewery in Milwaukee in 1850 and revolutionized the brewing industry in the city. Blatz was the first brewery in the area to bottle beer for shipping across the country. The building we had the honor of working in is part of the original brewery. It has since been converted into luxury condos and offices. There was only one entrance for both condo tenants and office space tenants, so Ascend was brought in to help create a brand new entrance for the businesses. There was one space in the building that hadn’t been touched during renovations; it was the perfect blank slate to use for a new entry and we were called in to help bring it to life.
In researching the company we discovered that Val Blatz was one of the first to use the ‘church key’ style bottle opener. We used that bottle opener as a design element throughout the space. One wall covering uses the shape as a pixel to reimagine a vintage Blatz advertisement and it shows up again on the exterior blade sculpture that, when illuminated, creates a bottle opener pattern with its shadows. Hints of beer theme show up all over the space, from the custom bottle cap pendant light in the entryway vestibule to the hops vines cascading down the walls of the elevator interior. We also decided to preserve some of the original walls by cleaning then encapsulating them with a clear epoxy. This lets the viewer get a glimpse at history while enjoying a truly unique Milwaukee space.