FORTY SPOTTED GIN BAR
2019
“A place of tasting and making, where the sensory world of botanicals is brought to life and guests leave with a gin that is uniquely their own.”
Forty Spotted Gin Bar celebrates the diversity of Tasmanian botanicals and blends. Located within the heritage-listed Mercury building, the project reactivates a previously disused space, establishing a bright and uncompromising identity that contrasts with the building’s darker interior. Positioned in the heart of Hobart, the bar is conceived as a place of tasting and discovery, where the full range of the distillery’s botanical gins can be experienced alongside rare and hard to find gins from Tasmania and around the world.
The design is flooded with natural light, unfolding as a colourful and immersive environment. A timber grid spans the ceiling and extends into walls, seating and bar elements, forming a cohesive architectural language. This system reflects the layered complexity of gin, while resolving acoustic and lighting performance through its depth and rhythm, balancing atmosphere with function. The space supports a diverse program of use, from daytime blending workshops to evening cocktails, allowing the bar to shift seamlessly between education and hospitality.
Central to this is the Forty Spotted Gin institute, a hands on experience that invites guests into the process of making. Guided sessions offer a direct engagement with botanicals, aroma and flavour, culminating in a bespoke bottle of gin blended on site. The architecture reinforces this immersive approach, foregrounding the sensory and participatory nature of the brand.
Beyond the public facing bar, the project establishes a workplace for the company, accommodating an office for twelve staff and creating a dedicated base of operations. This extension of the brief transforms the venue into more than a hospitality space, forming a home for the brand where production, administration and public engagement are brought together.
Aligned with the distillery’s position as Australia’s first carbon neutral producer, material choices are considered and precise. Interventions respect the industrial character of the Mercury building while foregrounding the tools and artefacts of distilling. The result is a space that celebrates Tasmania’s botanical richness, offering a refined yet energetic setting that connects heritage with contemporary production.
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BAR
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COMPLETE | 2019
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MUWININA COUNTRY | HOBART, TASMANIA
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BUILDER | SKINNY
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ADAM GIBSON