Firefly Distillery by The Metallic Building Company

Nestled in Charleston, South Carolina is the Firefly Distillery. The building, owned by Firefly Spirits, is the new home of the oldest distillery in Charleston. The facility is where the company distills the 25 spirits that they send countrywide.

When the company outgrew its original location, they found the Metallic Building Company to create their new, custom distillery buildings.

Who is the Metallic Building Company?

Metallic focuses on consistency and exceeding expectations. Through the builder’s 75+ years of history, they’ve evolved and changed to meet the needs of consumers. Firefly trusted the company to offer high-performing, quick construction designs.

If you are in the southeast US, you will be hard-pressed to find a better company to build with.

Creating the Firefly Distillery

Initially, Firefly went to Trident Construction with plans from their own architect. Due to the speed and cost-effectiveness, Trident decided to reach out to Metallic Building Systems to see what options they could offer for a building that is:

• Fast to build
•  Hurricane-proof

Due to Charleston being a hurricane-prone area, metal buildings made sense for Firefly.

Representatives from Metallic met with the team at Firefly to design a building that would stay within budget, look similar to the original and was fast to construct. Personalization and customization allowed the distillery to come to life.

The structure features:

• 12 metal buildings, combined to look like a house barn
• Grand entrance that matches the original building

Firefly Distillery features some of the company’s leading construction methods, including:

• SuperLok® metal roof panels, which is a vertical seam roof system that is designed for its strength and weather-resistant properties. Due to the panels being placed over bar joists or purlins, no additional substructure is required.
• 24-gauge PBC metal panels, which attach to the building and provide the design aesthetics needed for the building to look appealing and remain strong.

Rustic interior features and large open spaces make the distillery feel like the original, but this model boasts 19,000 square-foot of space. The interior has ample space to house all of the distillery’s functional rooms, including:

• Tasting room
• Open space for events
• Gift shop
• Office space
• Commercial kitchen

Of course, the distillery also has a working distillery space where the company creates 25 spirits and is always trying to innovate with new drinks.

Walking into the space, you’ll find that the building boasts a rustic design with large wooden panels surrounding the bar. If guests look up, they’ll see the beams of the metal building that feels both expansive yet cozy at the same time.

Windows fill the top of the space to provide an abundance of natural light to the interior.

In the event space, you’ll find ample natural light and sprawling rooms that are only possible with metal building construction. Guests can rent the space, which has been a key revenue driver for Firefly and was an integral part of the design process. There’s also a gift shop, which sells apparel and other items to patrons.

Outdoors, you’ll find expansive walkways and greenery that welcome guests. Food trucks are often found in the parking lot, and musicians from around the country come to Firefly to entertain guests that sit back and drink the world’s first sweet tea vodka.

On the back porch, guests can sit underneath hanging lights and listen to music, too. With a focus on keeping “it local,” the distillery has become a local hotspot and attracts tourists from around the country.

There’s also a front porch, which has plenty of picnic-style tables for guests to sit at that enjoy a breath of fresh air while drinking spirits.

Guests also have the opportunity to view the distilling process, which takes place in the stillhouse. The space boasts four massive holding tanks and two blending tanks. Guests can get a behind-the-scenes look into how Firefly makes some of their signature drinks.

In the end, Metallic Metal Buildings offered pre-engineered metal building structures that provide earthquake and hurricane protection while being 30% more economical and reducing construction time by 10%.

For more information on this featured build, visit Metallic.com.