![Wild Turkey Bourbon Visitor Center / De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop - Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/53a9/37ff/c07a/80b4/8b00/01c9/newsletter/PORTADA.jpg?1403598824)
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Architects: De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop
- Area: 9140 ft²
- Year: 2013
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Manufacturers: Kolbe
![Wild Turkey Bourbon Visitor Center / De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop - Image 7 of 33](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/53a9/3666/c07a/80a3/9300/01f5/newsletter/CSC_0302_2880px.jpg?1403598412)
Text description provided by the architects. Located on a bluff overlooking the Kentucky River, the Visitor Center is the newest component of recent additions & expansions to the Wild Turkey Bourbon Distillery Complex, one of seven original member distilleries of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. The 9,140 s.f. facility houses interactive exhibits, a gift shop, event venues, a tasting room and administrative offices.
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/53a9/385c/c07a/80a3/9300/01fa/newsletter/WTB_SectionBB_with_text.jpg?1403598918)
In concert with a major re-branding program that caters to both longtime devoted fans and a growing legion of new bourbon enthusiasts, the project employs a design direction that is both familiar and new – bridging tradition & innovation through an immersive environment of contrasts & dualities.
![Wild Turkey Bourbon Visitor Center / De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop - Lighting, Beam](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/53a9/344e/c07a/80a3/9300/01f1/medium_jpg/CSC_0285crop_2880px.jpg?1403597873)
Utilizing a simple barn silhouette (an interpretation of Kentucky tobacco barns common to the area), the building presents a clear & recognizable marker at the scale of the landscape. Clad in a chevron pattern of stained wood plank siding, the simplicity of the barn form is contrasted by the intricacy of the building skin, creating a shifting sense of scale and tactility that is deliberately both simple and complex.
![Wild Turkey Bourbon Visitor Center / De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop - Beam, Windows](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/53a9/3506/c07a/80c1/1200/01dc/medium_jpg/CSC_0289_2880px.jpg?1403598055)
Alternating zones of opaque and light-filtering lattice blur the boundaries between inside/out and solid/void. By night, the dark structure transforms into a delicate, glowing lantern of filigree perched above the river.
![Wild Turkey Bourbon Visitor Center / De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop - Beam, Chair](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/53a9/32a0/c07a/80c1/1200/01d8/medium_jpg/CSC_0271_2880px.jpg?1403597448)
Internally, the building is organized along a ramped, split-level public promenade that culminates in an elevated tasting room overlooking the Kentucky River (the bourbon’s base water source). In a nod to the nearby bridges spanning the river, a wooden trestle element provides a physical spine from which the various programmatic elements are reached.