We’re excited to share that Kona Farm Distillery has received a 2026 AIA Honolulu Award of Excellence in the Commercial/Industrial category.
Set within a working coffee farm south of Kailua-Kona, the project brings production and hospitality together around the craft of making. A choreographed arrival through the orchard leads to an open-air tasting room, where views of the Pacific sit alongside a clear view into the distillery.
The building is shaped by its climate and agricultural setting. Deep overhangs provide shade, ocean breezes move through the tasting room, and locally sourced ʻōhiʻa columns and furnishings made by regional artisans bring warmth and a sense of place to the interiors.
Coffee roasting and distilling are energy-intensive processes, yet the project achieves a 32.2% improvement in site energy performance. Rooftop and ground-mounted photovoltaics offset 19.8% of annual energy use.
Rainwater, coffee-processing water, and distillery wastewater are collected, treated, and reused for crop irrigation. Together, these strategies reduce indoor potable water use by 30.14% and landscape water consumption by 91%.
The award recognizes a place where agriculture, production, and hospitality connect visitors to the land.
