Mission Brewery Building

Constructed in 1913, in its early years the iconic Mission Brewing Company was famous for its popular Old Mission Lager and Hopski, a soft drink made from hops and malt--the "jolt drink" of its time. This popularity was short lived as Prohibition came only five years later, and in 1919 the brewery was closed and converted to a quarantine hospital.

When The Miller Hull Partnership opened its office in San Diego last year, finding a space where it could create an atmosphere of creativity was paramount for the nationally-recognized design firm known for award-winning architecture. The double height space of the recently restored Mission Brewing Company Building proved to be the perfect choice, not to mention the tempting smell of hops wafting from the revived brewery next door (and the opportunity for ocasional tastes of what's fermenting next door).

The design concept for the office is simple; strip out the previous tenant 'improvements' to expose the rough beauty of the old brick building, insert custom modular furniture and lighting with as light of a touch as possible, and hire Paul Basile to work his magic with a few quirky details. The winning combination of a dramatic spatial volume and a low budget for improvements lends proof to the notion that sometimes "less is more."