Bow & Arrow Brewing Company is inspired by the unique heritage, landscape, and people of the Great American Southwest. The Bow & Arrow represents self-reliance, protection, flexibility and skill, and their beloved “hop arrowhead” logo, with its clean and strong geometric design, embodies the spirit of Native American arts and also references a hop cone, an arrowhead, the Sandia Mountains, and water. The owners’ rural upbringings gifted them with a strong connection to the land and to their communities. They share a love of learning, exploring, and appreciation for the impact of culture and landscape on food, drink, art, and design. And they love craft beer. These values inspire their products, their brand, and their company.
The new home for Bow & Arrow Brewing Company is the result of a dedicated realty, planning, design, and construction team. The owners of Bow & Arrow diligently searched the Albuquerque metropolitan area for available buildings that could become home to their flagship beer production facility and tasting room. After months of exploring, the team settled on the former Chaparral Electric Warehouse. Located within the industrial district of the Saw Mill Neighborhood and the blooming brewery corridor, the existing building had a strong sense of identity within its adjacent surroundings and had immense potential for the new brewery company.
The project includes the interior renovation of the 10,000 square foot warehouse building, specifically the first floor with 4,000 sf allocated for production and 4,000 sf for the tasting area. The team sought to generate a space conducive to Bow & Arrow’s goals of future growth and mass distribution, while also generating a tasting area unmatched in design and aesthetics by any other brewery in town. The production area was designed for operational efficiency and boasts an elaborate header utility system that serves a top of the line Brewhouse manifold, and up to 10, 30 barrel fermenter and brite tanks.
For the tasting area, the owners brought to the drawing board an immense library of design ideas founded on the principles of their Native American heritage and love for the American Southwest. The architect and owners took these concepts and translated them into an open beer hall concept, complete with rustic, varnished, herringbone wood walls, rough, a cast-in-place concrete bar, vast vintage-inspired candelabra lighting, with hues of white Carrera marble, gold, and charcoal throughout.
The completion of Bow & Arrow Brewing Company has introduced another successful brewery into Albuquerque’s growing brewery scene and another great addition to the up and coming Saw Mill neighborhood. The project sought out to create a different model for local breweries, one that focuses equally on the quality of the beer and on the aesthetic quality of the space it is enjoyed within.
Project Name: Bow & Arrow Brewing Company
Owners: Shyla Sheppard & Missy Begay
Project Completion Date: February 2016
Architect: Mullen Heller Architecture P.C.
Contractor: Vision Build
Address: 602 McKnight Avenue NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Narrative and photos courtesy of Mullen Heller Architecture P.C.
Photo credit: Patrick Coulie
New Mexico Architectural Foundation 
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