Against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, on the banks of the French Broad River, Asheville, North Carolina is a destination for outdoor recreation, arts, and culture. While the City ranks among the highest in breweries per capita, the riverfront was historically defined by industrial uses—an aesthetic still reflected in the River Arts District, where artists and local businesses now occupy former warehouses.

New Belgium Brewing recognized the energy of the River Arts District and saw hidden potential in a dilapidated, abandoned landfill site. The community, and the opportunity to restore a contaminated site on an underutilized section of the river, caught their attention.

“New Belgium saw all this amazing creative energy down along the river and wanted to be a part of that story,” says Paul Mills, Vice President at RVi. “There were all these local, artist-driven places and they knew they could contribute to that energy and community.”

RVi’s work on New Belgium’s Asheville Brewery, brought to life one of the first major activations of the riverfront and spurred further local development, attracting small businesses and public investment alike. The site restoration not only created a lively new hub of community activity, it also helped protect the site against the devastating impacts of Tropical Storm Helene in 2024.

A vision for community

New Belgium came to RVi with a vision: to establish a second flagship brewery and event venue in Asheville. Over the years, Mills had led several expansions at New Belgium’s Fort Collins location. These expansions had been gradual and organic. With intentional planning, the new, 123,350 sq. ft. facility would start at scale, with a beer garden, restaurant, gathering areas, and a stage for live music.

It would also house a production and distribution facility, all while retaining the scrappy, eclectic spirit shared by the original Fort Collins location and Asheville’s River Arts District. Mills notes that the project was not about imposing a new identity on the riverfront, but about amplifying the creative culture already present.

The brewery brought new vitality to the area, supporting the City of Asheville’s goals for economic development and environmental sustainability. Virtually all of the facility’s artwork came from artists within a 3-mile radius, including tile mosaics around the brewing vessels, bar tops, and tap towers.

A partnership with the City brought investment into the environmental cleanup and supported a separate new greenway along the waterfront.

“The investments in the area brought more energy and more people,” says Mills. “Housing followed, restaurants and businesses grew along the river, and more breweries opened. The whole area became much more robust.” 

Reclaiming a brownfield

More than a century of dumping had left the site covered in cars, tires, and debris, with soil samples showing contaminants of lead-based paint, petroleum, methane, and asbestos containing materials. Extensive cleanup and environmental remediation efforts went into the brownfield site restoration to remove debris, restore ecosystems, and stabilize the foundation.

“You don’t disturb a landfill, you cap it and build on top of it. Everything had to be supported on piers drilled down to bedrock. It made the project incredibly complex,” says Mills.

Driven by a deep commitment to sustainability, New Belgium prioritized recycled and reclaimed materials for construction. Teams deconstructed the landfill site, storing and cataloging approximately 14 linear miles of wood and metal for re-use during construction. In total, 82% of waste was diverted from local landfills.

“The recycling and re-use was unbelievable. Every single piece of wood we cleared, the company stockpiled and sorted it,” says Mills. “When we needed materials for the deck, for the façade, for anything, we had it there, sorted and ready to use.”

Additional focus on solar energy and sustainable irrigation helped the facility to earn LEED certification. Innovative rainwater harvesting strategies supported irrigation throughout the site, though the watering needs are minimal.

Areas that were once covered in weeds and invasive plants now feature native plantings selected for their hardiness in the local climate. Pollinators support the restoration of habitats for bees, bats, and birds. The new plantings further protect against erosion, while providing a lush backdrop for visitors to the tasting room.

With the landfill stabilized and the landscape restored, design focus turned to visitor experience and operations, and how guests, staff, and the beer itself would flow through the site. The French Broad River provided the answer.

Designing with the river

Mills and his team worked on the brewery campus master plan with consideration for the natural circulation of visitors and production staff. The public facing sections of the brewery sit upstream from production at a higher elevation. Guests can access the brewery directly from the river by inner tube, boat, or stand-up paddle board, or through parking lots tucked into the trees across a curving bridge approach.

“The whole inspiration came from the river,” says Mills. “People walk to the site through winding paths and flow through the entry into the main plaza. Beer production flows in the same direction as the river. Everything is intentional.”

The public area is a hub of community activity, welcoming guests year-round with events, markets, concerts, and casual gatherings. In summer months, the river becomes part of the experience, as tubers and boaters pull up along the bank, drift into the beer garden, and linger as part of the site’s daily rhythm.

Mills’ team collaborated with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to integrate new stormwater systems, supported through a public-private partnership with the City of Asheville. A drainage ditch filled with rubble and debris became a core focus of design and was converted to a flowing stream, dubbed Penland Creek.

The creek flows beneath the bridge on the public facing entry, reducing sediment into the river and serving as a critical hydrologic feature. The team designed with the river’s natural rhythm, studying its hydraulics and hydrology to stabilize landfill soils.

Downstream from the gathering spaces, Mills’ team planned the industrial-scale logistics and truck access for the production and distribution facility—reminiscent of the site’s industrial origins, though nature had long since reclaimed the roadways to the landfill.

The production facility planning included space for an on-site water treatment plant to purify water used in beer production before returning the effluent to the river.

When the waters rose

This integration of topography, hydrology, and sustainable design would prove essential when it was tested a few years later during Tropical Storm Helene in 2024. In parts of Asheville, the French Broad River crested more than 24 feet above typical levels during the storm, shattering records set by the Flood of 1916 and causing catastrophic damage throughout surrounding communities.

The brewery’s water treatment plant, electrical panels, and a large quantity of beer in the production facility were lost to the storm. However, in comparison with the region as a whole, New Belgium’s site and public spaces remained relatively unscathed. The efforts that went into Penland Creek and strategic preservation of surrounding wetlands served to diffuse floodwaters during the storm.

“They came out of it really lucky,” Mills says. “The creek broke the velocity of the floodwaters and spread it out across the floodplain. That made a massive difference.”

Today, New Belgium’s Asheville Brewery is both a destination and a case study in how thoughtful master planning and landscape design can transform overlooked land into vibrant, activated spaces. What stood for decades as a buried liability along the French Broad River now functions as a resilient landscape, an economic engine, and a gathering place integrated with Asheville’s community and creative spirit.

The brewery’s success helped revitalize the community’s relationship with the river, sparking new investment and demonstrating that businesses can be a force for good. Perhaps most importantly, its performance during Tropical Storm Helene affirmed the long-term value of designing with nature rather than against it. In Asheville’s River Arts District, New Belgium’s brewery is helping to write the next chapter of growth and vitality.