Sarasota, FL
Big Top Brewing Company
Big Top Brewing had a fully permitted design for a 14,000 square foot brewery and restaurant in Sarasota, Florida. Production floor, taproom, kitchen, retail space, and a connected patio. Masonry exterior. Everything approved and ready to build.
Then the cost estimate came back over budget on conventional construction, and because the design was already permitted, changing the footprint or the exterior meant starting permitting over.
Size
100 x 140 x 29
Location
Sarasota, FL
Building System
I Beam
Total Square Footage
14,000
Challenges
The biggest challenge was timing. The metal commercial building design was fully permitted, but it came in over budget. Changing the layout or appearance was not an option without risking delays and added costs, so every solution had to fit within strict boundaries.
The permitted design was the constraint and the goal at the same time. Whatever we did had to fit the approved footprint, height, and exterior exactly, or the project would lose months getting re-permitted. That ruled out most of the usual ways to bring a budget back in line.
Big Top hadn’t built with pre-engineered steel before, and they had fair questions about it. This building was going to be a taproom people spent time in, not a warehouse. They wanted to know it would look right.
Financing also needed time to stabilize partway through, which put real pressure on a schedule that was already tight.
Solutions
We redesigned the structural system as a pre-engineered metal building sized to the permitted footprint exactly. Same dimensions, same rooflines, same masonry facade. The structural change brought the cost back under control without touching anything that had been approved, so nothing went back through permitting.
Clear span construction handled the part of the brief that mattered most. Production and hospitality share a roof here, and interior columns would have forced a compromise between them. Without columns, Big Top laid out the production floor, the taproom, the kitchen, and the retail space around how the business actually runs.
On the finish question, we walked their team through how the system works and detailed the building to carry the masonry exterior the design called for. When financing needed time, we extended flexible payment terms and stayed involved through planning and coordination so the project kept moving.
Results
The building was delivered on time and within budget, and it looks the way it was drawn. Same permitted design, different structural system, a cost the brewery could actually build to.
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Niel and Steve
BRS Partners, Poolsville, MD
Chris, We wanted to take a moment and thank you for your continued support and good products in the horse industry. BRS entered into this Market in 2014 and since then we have built 4 structures with you including 3 indoor arenas and a large Commercial Garage. Your product is of top quality and your support with the engineered drawings is outstanding. You take your time when you are with us and do not rush us out the door. Also, when there were any field discrepancies you jumped at the opportunity to make it right. For that, we thank you and hope to do business with you well into the future. Have a great night.
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