The Central Machine Works building is an indoor-outdoor brewery, beer garden, and event venue located in east Austin, Texas. The structure originally consisted of a metal building, reportedly one of the oldest of its kind in Austin, with corrugated wall and roof panels and served as a machine shop in the 1940s.

A major goal of the project was to retain as much of the metal panels as possible while creating enclosed spaces that could serve as a restaurant- passing all required health inspections- and partially conditioned beer garden. Acton Partners was engaged by IE2 Construction, the General Contractor, to review the existing conditions and suggest improvements for the space to control water and pest infiltration while maintaining the overall ambience.

Our role included observation of existing conditions, peer review of Maker Architects documents, and reporting and recommendations for functional improvements to the exterior enclosures.

The project opened in 2019 and is a unique, popular space in the neighborhood.