Join Layer for ET176 at AIA A'26

Spend Thursday evening of AIA A'26 with us, touring three San Diego breweries that all share one thing in common. Each is a working brewery operating inside a building originally constructed for a different use. Three short architectural stories about adaptive reuse, told over three flights of beer, in the course of an afternoon.

This is an official AIA Conference on Architecture A'26 program session (ET176). Layer is co-hosting alongside Lagarsoft SRL and Montrose Environmental.

Looking for the daytime version? ET176 is the social-evening companion to ET133 Sustainability on Tap, Layer's Wednesday daytime education-focused tour that visits the same three breweries.

Can't make the tour? Find us at booth 1142 on the AIA26 expo floor, ground level, June 11 and 12.

The route

Stop 1: Mission Brewery

A 1913 brick-and-timber industrial building in the East Village, originally constructed as the Mission Brewing Plant. The structure moved through multiple uses across the twentieth century before being restored for craft brewing in the 2010s. We start here.

Stop 2: Stone Brewing at Liberty Station

Liberty Station is the redeveloped Naval Training Center San Diego. The 1920s Spanish Colonial Revival campus closed in 1997 and reopened as a mixed-use district. Stone Brewing occupies one of the largest single buildings on the site. We'll see both the brewery floor and the tasting room.

Stop 3: Ballast Point Little Italy

The final stop is Ballast Point's Little Italy location. The walk between Stone and Ballast Point passes through the smaller-scale adaptive reuse projects that have reshaped Little Italy over the past two decades.

Open the brewery route in Google Maps →

Your tour leads

The three co-hosts each present at one stop. The hand-off works like this.

Mike Lee, Layer. Layer is the platform a lot of architecture firms use for the Room Data Sheets, FF&E schedules, surveys, and condition assessments that adaptive reuse projects depend on. Mike runs marketing and product at Layer.

Agustina Aboy Berrutti, Lagarsoft SRL. Lagarsoft is a technology consultancy with a long list of adaptive reuse and preservation projects across South America. Agustina leads their preservation practice.

Daniel McDermott, Montrose Environmental. Montrose handles environmental consulting on adaptive reuse projects, including the asbestos, lead, and site contamination work that almost always shows up in older buildings. Daniel leads their AEC practice group.

The logistics

Date: Thursday, June 11, 2026

Time: 4:00 to 7:00 PM PT

Departure: Lobby H, San Diego Convention Center

Session code: ET176

Fee: $155, set by AIA. Includes transportation between stops, brewery flights, and the guided walk between Stone and Ballast Point.

Capacity: Limited. Tour spots have sold out at previous AIA conferences, so register early through the AIA26 schedule.

Find Layer at booth 1142

The Layer team is at booth 1142 on the AIA26 expo floor, ground level, June 11 and 12. This walking tour is the only off-floor session we're hosting at the conference. If you can't get a tour spot but want to talk through how Layer fits into adaptive reuse work, drop by the booth and ask for a demo.