We were approached by Thames Distillers to create a new distillery and client experience area for them. Their previous distillery site had been sold to developers, but they found a new location in an empty Victorian warehouse district that had previously been used as an evangelical church.
Dry London gin must be distilled in London, so this is one industry that can’t be moved beyond the city limits. Additionally, the brief was to create a welcoming client experience area for new clients, brands and events, centred around showcasing and storytelling for the creation of bespoke gin, alongside a unique cocktail bar.
From the brief we looked back at the history of the site and the area (just off the Old Kent Road). The history of the area actually ties very much back into Thames Distillers’ rich heritage- including the former Grand Surrey Canal at the end of Ossory road. Along this waterway goods travelled to and from Surrey Quays, and the Thames, with the local area seeing importing and exporting of timber, leathers and all sorts of other produce. The bottle house itself, where the distillery is now located, was formerly a mineral water bottling plant. We loved the wonderfully London heritage story to bring the site back into use distilling gin- a drink so synonymous with London around the globe.
When we looked around their old distillery, we were really fascinated by the precise science of gin making, but also the creativity of the botanical choice and mixing. (They have over 2000 sample bottles from their previous refinement of client recipes) We wanted to create something that was gently educational about how gin is made, a sort of modern apothecary that reflected the precision and magic of the botanicals.
The brief for the distillery was to create a clean and contemporary space to accommodate the two pot stills – Tom Thumb and Thumbellina for distilling, with space for their vast array of botanicals and a way to showcase the process to potential clients and explain the gin making craft.
We visited the old distillery and witnessed the first commercial distillation of their unique soon to be launched Korean inspired gin. Understanding the process of how they make gin, and the wide array of botanicals at their disposal inspired us to think about notions of the art and craft of making perfume, and traditional medicine, so we wanted to create a client facing area that was a warmed up version of a contemporary apothecary. We sought to highlight the heritage space we were working in, yet provide a simple and luxurious intervention within – whilst telling the story of Thames Distillers and how gin is created and made.
The design intention therefore was a contemporary balance of craft and heritage using a diverse array of luxurious and reclaimed materials. On the distillery side we used a bold blue which has updated their brand colour to unify the operations, with the floor, and the base of the stills to give this clean brand canvas.
We took over an evocative but empty shell, and wanted to fill it with life, and warm up the space. We repurposed a massive chest of drawers to showcase their botanical collection, and reclaimed an antique shop display unit to house the distillery’s 2000 sample bottles, an extraordinary record of each gin they create along the way.
We have worked with the family business to highlight their heritage and twelve generations of master distillers with a family tree that traces the distillers over time, alongside a historic panorama of the Thames, which gave the distillery its name and was until the 1970’s a very vital link to the area and out to the wider world.
The project was a fantastic opportunity to explore a new side of London’s rich industrial past and to allow that to continue through the creative reuse of some beautiful existing structures, and our love of using a wide variety of rich and evocative pieces and materials.