Rethinking Outdoor Spaces: Architects embrace natural, emotional beauty of Alaska.

• Author: Strieker, Julie
• Position: ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING SPECIAL SECTION

When Bobby Wilken opened HooDoo Brewing Company on Halloween 2012, he envisioned a modest tap house where Fairbanks residents could get together to socialize over a craft beer. The brewery was busy all winter and when the weather warmed, patrons began hanging out on a tiny deck next to the front parking lot. Wilken fenced in a small area, adding electrical spools for tables, and the rustic biergarten quickly became a favorite hangout, gradually expanding over the years.

In 2017, with a vision of European biergartens, "we decided to try to design the coolest biergarten we'd ever been in," Wilken says. He added a covered area for food trucks to park, tables and benches, and heaters and outdoor lighting.

"There's not a lot of great spaces in Fairbanks to just order a pint of beer," he continues. "There's not a lot of great outdoor spaces in Fairbanks."

Even during a Fairbanks winter, HooDoo's biergarten is a popular stop. With their winter gear, patrons will stop inside to order a beer and then hang out with their friends in the biergarten to enjoy it, although Wilken acknowledges that as the thermostat drops way below zero, traffic drops just as dramatically.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early spring of 2020, the state announced that businesses with a liquor license could expand any outdoor spaces to encourage social distancing. Wilken sent in a proposal that doubled the size of his biergarten, which was accepted that day.

"People already knew we had this great outdoor space," he says. "The more room the better, and people were already pretty wary about going inside." Rivers Wood Products gave him 12-foot pallets to use as fencing and the Riverboat Discovery, which suspended operations due to COVID-19. loaned HooDoo umbrellas and high- and low-top tables. Alaska Dreams, which caters local events, gave Wilken a good deal on tents, since many of its events also were canceled.

"It worked out really well," he says. "We limited capacity, but there was still plenty of room for us to sell a decent amount of beer and stay in business."

Connecting Physically, Emotionally

Although the novel Coronavirus pandemic has highlighted Alaska's love of outdoor spaces, for local architects, melding the interior and exterior is a core part of their design. Melisa Babb, a landscape architect for Bettisworth North Architects and Planners, says COVID-19 has forced people to take a closer look at our outdoor spaces and how they are designed.

"For Alaskans, I think that this has highlighted the fact that, despite our...