The images shown here are not final. The tables still have more design work and the wood slabs shown are not the finalized wood slabs that will be used.
The Bellingham Tap Trail isn’t just about beer. There is a design and feel to all of our breweries that give a unique experience to their customers. People leave Bellingham’s breweries and tap houses with a distinct feel and memories of their nooks and crannies. Local artisans are big part of this.
Black Fin Design and Tricky Timbers are well known in Bellingham for collaborating on the design and aesthetics of many of Bellingham’s breweries and tap houses. Each of them unique in their own way. From Kulshan Brewery‘s famous bike rack (polished and utilitarian), to Wander Brewing‘s tables (industrial and solid), to Elizabeth Station’s bike themed outdoor seating (playful and detailed), each one of these projects was inspired by it’s environment and intended purpose.
It’s little wonder that Dave Vitt and the Kulshan Brewery team contacted Black Fin Design and Tricky Timbers to help with Kulshan Brewery’s 2nd Brewery, K2. Andy Phillips, owner of Black Fin Design, sat down with me a while ago and showed me what he had designed, just from looking at a pile of scrap metal in a recycling yard. He wanted to create something that was up-cycled, heavy and just burly. He’s done that and then some.
It was a beautifully well-thought out, cantilevered steel and wood table. The acute base will be bolted into the cement floor at K2 and the other end will float as a result, while many a pint and elbow rest on it. The I-Beam base was sourced at a local recycling yard. The beams were chopped up and twisted during a random demolition project. Andy saw them in a pile and thought, “That’s a table.” One of the table tops is 7ft long. The other is 12ft long. Both are 3ft wide and 3in thick, made from old growth fir. Andy said, “It will be a spectacle.” Each table and base are huge, just like K2.
I don’t know how he does it, but Andy continually comes up with beautiful and innovative work. But I guess that’s why I’m writing about it and not designing it.
“This is going to be art you can sit on. The burliest thing to ever support a pint glass.” – Andy Phillips, Black Fin Design.
There will also be huge wrap around L-shaped benches throughout the industrial K2. A majority of all the base materials at K2 will be a heavy I-beam style theme just like these tables.
Many pints will sit atop these “burly” tables for generations to come and we have these local artisans to thank. So while you enjoy your favorite pint on your favorite stool or table, ask yourself who built it and how. Your pint will taste that much better when you appreciate what is under it.