The Distillery, Portobello Rd London

Space is at a premium in West London and the key to unlocking the building’s potential was to combine a very ambitious mix of associated uses across four floors on a compact corner plot. Architectural Emporium helped our client to convert the dilapidated pub on Portobello Rd, by creating the new home of Portobello Rd gin, with a basement distillery, blending rooms and history room. This forms the home of the Ginstitute, a fantastic space to learn about gin and devise your own blend. The ground floor features the resting room, where barrels of spirits are suspended over the bar and served directly via a network of pipes that run down the back bar. Bespoke timber lighting tracks snake through the space and a glazed screen forms the backdrop. A Priest Hole and Ginstitute entrance complete the ground floor. The first floor features a Spanish restaurant with a gin twist and kitchens. A corner bar and open kitchen provide the backdrop to this grand space. The top floor comprises a private dining room and a three bedroom hotel. The design features many bespoke components from doors, bars to lights and lighting tracks. Externally, we used eye catching glazed bricks to clad the walls under the windows. The design of each space is unique to its function allowing it to operate within an optimised footprint, but common threads link the different interventions allowing the design to feel carefully considered as a whole. The interior blends traditional features with quality materials and a refined modern twist. The considered pallate of Iroko joinery, burnished copper accents, patterned glass, traditional tiles and rich dark colours coupled with careful detailing creates an ageless sense of permanence within a building that had many of the original building features removed by previous inhabitants.