The Old Bushmills Distillery is based in the small village of Bushmills settled on the banks of the river. It is the oldest working distillery in Ireland. For over 400 years, Bushmills has kept to the philosophy that hand crafting small batches is the way to produce beautifully smooth tasting Irish whiskey.

Heron Bros was appointed to construct Warehouses 25-27 at the Old Bushmills Distillery. The scope of the works required the construction of a metal clad, steel three bay portal framebuilding containing 3 individual Warehouses.

Heron Bros carried out the project with no disruption to the Distillery which remained live and operational throughout. The building has a 5760m2 footprint with each portal frame having an eaves height of 8.6m and a ridge height of 10.2m.

The site area had been reduced in level and overlaid with a 300m stone layer on a stabilization membrane. The resultant formation is at a level approximately 650mm below the proposed floor level of the Warehouses.

The building is founded on a load transfer platform made up of the 370mm deep fibre reinforced concrete ground floor slab laid on a 3.075m grid of concrete filled 178mm minimum diameter tubular steel piles.

A unique feature of this project was the introduction of pre-cast concrete fire walls which divided the 3 warehouses. This provided significant programme benefits over traditional masonry construction.

In order to minimise the risk of contamination, Bushmills Distillery has an internal drainage system whereby all drainage (storm / run-off) is gathered in a lagoon where it is treated prior to being released into the natural water-course. Bushmills place great emphasis on protecting their natural surroundings and the local environment and therefore Heron Bros adhered rigorous protective procedures throughout the works.