The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
71 Brewing will put art and excitement in its new-look HQ
Plans to add a tap room, art gallery, beer school and architectural studio to the 71 Brewing headquarters have been approved.
The development – given the green light by Dundee City Council this week – will also include a studio space, beer museum and retail area.
Managing director Duncan Alexander says the changes could create 20 jobs at the Bellfield Street property.
The red brick building has been home to the firm since 2016. It was previously known as Blackness Iron Works and has been the base for both a removal company and an arts collective since its construction in the early 1900s.
The brewing firm’s plans were lodged in January.
Mr Alexander said: “We’ve worked really hard with the council over the past few months to make something that they’re happy with, and which meets all our needs.
“We’re over the moon that it passed. It’s very exciting.
“In terms of investment and jobs, I think it would have been a real missed opportunity not to go ahead with this.”
Mr Alexander and his 71 Brewing team have based the plans on similar public art spaces, such as SWG3 in Glasgow.
They hope to convert the ground floor into a taproom serving beers brewed by the company, alongside office space and a retail area.
The application also includes plans for a beer school and beer museum and a glass-fronted gin distillery which would allow visitors to witness the manufacturing process.
The upper floor is to be converted into a large exhibition space, with six individual studios for artists to work in.
Mr Alexander hopes to open some areas of the new development by the end of the year.
He said: “It has taken longer than we perceived to get it through planning.
“We have to sit down with our investors and look at our timescale and the cost of things. The costs might have changed over the last few months.
“We’d like to start as soon as possible but we have to clear everything.
“If everything landed the right way we could potentially see something open for Christmas – a part of the development – but that comes with lots of caveats.”