- May 15, 2025
I have been thinking recently where my obsession with place, and creating things that reflect place, actually started and I think I have finally got to the root.
I grew up in Cornwall, in a village on the edge of Bodmin Moor. Growing up I pretty much lived outside. Me and my friends would spend our weekends and school holidays outdoors. We would walk all day on the moors, cycle the country lanes, we would swim in the quarries, ride our skateboards as far as we could. We would explore everything this landscape has to offer and when it got dark we knew it was time to head home.
This exploration is where my love for place, specifically this place, began. Being immersed in the beautiful, rugged Cornish landscape, surrounded by farmland to one side and baron moorland the other inspired me. The heritage and tradition of Cornwall, nestled in the landscape, makes this place truly unique, and I love it.
Whilst studying architecture I began to throw myself into the exploration of place as a concept, specifically how placemaking should always be the most important factor in the development of the built environment. For me it wasn’t about replication of what currently exists around us, but rather using what is around us to inspire a modern approach. Using technological and stylistic advancements to create architecture which is truly reflective of its place as well as its time in this world. This approach to architecture is often referred to as Critical Regionalism.
Critical regionalism aimed to address the problem of Modernism and Postmodernism in post-1960s architecture in the built environment, styles that were creating spaces which felt homogenised and lacked any form of local identity. Modernism created a universal style of architecture completely unreflective of its surroundings. It was the beginning of the globalisation of architecture.
I wholeheartedly embraced the concept of Critical Regionalism. It went on to inspire my career in architecture and life in general.
But, what does any of this have to do with brewing I hear you all crying…
Thinking specifically about UK brewing, I have drawn parallels between the rise of Modernism in architecture and craft beer. The craft beer scene, speaking in very general terms here, has become homogenised, generally lacking local identity and has become a globalised expression of beer.
Even before I got into professional brewing I was exploring how I could create place driven beers. I was experimenting with wild yeast, foraged and wrangled from local plants, this would go on to become the Native Series of beers at Castle Brewery. Beers brewed with a mixed culture of native yeast and bacteria before undergoing an extended barrel age. But I always yearned for something bigger, something more tangible, something you can actually see and feel. Enter raw barley…
Barley is a staple crop for many Cornish farmers, much of which is destined for animal feed. We work with a single farmer tending the land on the Roseland Peninsular for all of our base grain, you can’t get much more local than that! We collect the grain ourselves and use it in its unaltered state (apart from milling of course), this grain is raw, expressive and deeply rooted in the home of our brewery, Cornwall.
Our ultimate goal would be to one day brew a 100% single origin beer using barley, water, hops and yeast all from a single origin. This is dream we will always be working towards. It may not be possible but someone also once told me a 100% raw barley beer wouldn’t be achievable…
Coldframe was born out of my deep commitment and love for this place. Beers which are crafted from the land in which they were brewed, but using technological and stylistic advancements that are now available to us. Coldframe aims to create beer which is truly reflective of its place as well as its time in this world.