Project of the Month: Haynes Group and Mighty Squirrel Brewery celebrate opening of 27,700 s/f production/taproom

Waltham, MA Cheers to a ‘mighty moment’! Mighty Squirrel Brewery is the first of its kind, bringing the production and manufacturing area to the center of the taproom. And it’s officially open to the public! 

The Mighty Squirrel team wanted to create a community centric atmosphere, “the whole idea of the brand is to be outdoors and active, creating and celebrating ‘mighty moments’,” said Mighty Squirrel co-founder, Naveen Pawar. Whether a patron wants to work remotely from the site, or wants to enjoy a beer with friends, the space has something for everyone.  

Constructing this unique space was The Haynes Group, a full service commercial construction company serving the northeast region, known for their unique industry process of blending personalized service and relationship building. The team was thrilled about working on a project that would benefit both the city and the state. “We were excited to work with the Squirrels on the opening of their first brewery and tap room,” said Haynes Group co-founder, Mike Haynes, “Our group embraces project opportunities that bring commerce and revenue to the state and is proud to have worked on a project that will continue to promote local jobs in Massachusetts.”

But building a brewery can often present unique obstacles. Nonetheless, Haynes Group was excited to bring this unique brewing space to life. “The Mighty Squirrel project was an exciting opportunity for us to create a new-to-market brewery experience, combining functionality of a traditional production facility with the aesthetic of a craft beer tasting room,” said project manager, Patrick Andrews. This 22,700 s/f multi-use space features a two-level craft beer brewing production facility that is visible to patrons from all tap room locations, it also features support function facilities, multiple taprooms and 6,000 s/f of subleased space. The facility also offers a “coffee bar” in their retail area, allowing patrons to come and enjoy a cup of coffee during the daytime and watch the brewing process take place. 

Haynes Group has begun transforming the 6,000 s/f sublease space for Central Rock Gym, a world class indoor climbing, fitness and community experience organization. This new collaboration between Central Rock Gym and Mighty Squirrel adds to the new-to-market experience that Mighty Squirrel hopes to offer through their brewery. Central Rock Gym is visible to brewery patrons through a large glass window separating the two spaces.

Haynes Group utilized their unique industry process of blending personalized service and relationship building to help the Squirrels through every aspect of the project. They were instrumental in helping the Squirrels find a place to call their own, having significant involvement in the design process, and constructing this large-scale and complex facility. The project took five months to complete, from finding the right location, to serving their first beer.

Project team:

Haynes Group: construction manager

American Insulated Panel: insulated panels

Phase Zero Design: architect

Base Design Group, Inc.: structural engineer