Inside the Thames Distillers’ new Old Kent Road home

While it’s a misnomer that London Dry Gins must be made in the city, for 11 generations, the family of Thames Distillers founder Charles Maxwell has been doing just that, crafting gin in various pockets of London as far back as the 1700s.

When the distiller’s Clapham site was sold to developers, the family looked to the neighbouring Old Kent Road to build a new home for the company, inhabiting space with the scale and heritage befitting the company.

The Thames Distillers moved into The Bottle Factory, a Victorian-era industrial complex most recently used as an evangelical church. The heritage building has become a hub for creatives, events, and production for DJs, designers, filmmakers, and brewers. For its new production space, enlisted architect Zoe Masterton-Smith, principal of Transit Studio, to transform the shell for its new role, looking to its heritage for inspiration.

‘The history of the area actually ties very much back into Thames Distiller’s rich heritage- including the former Grand Surrey Canal at the end of Ossory Road,’ says Masterton-Smith. ‘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.’

The new facility comprises a bar for Fords Gin, one of Thames Distiller’s principal clients, and an apothecary-like distillery. The clean and contemporary space houses two pot stills – nicknamed Tom Thumb and Thumbelina — for distilling and all the botanicals and a cocktail bar in the warehouse, designed with mixologist Leo Robitschek.

The bar—available to rent for functions and tasting experiences—is inspired by a gin bottle and made with exquisite dark green marble with a fluted front, oak, and reeded glass accents. Masterson-Smith has considered ergonomics and efficiency when making cocktails, minimising the movement of the bartender by having a central spirit well and bookend mixing stations within reach.

Bottle-like lamps hang above the bar, and floorboards were reclaimed from a Bristol timber mill. Furniture is a mix of vintage pieces by Børge Mogensen & Tage Poulsen and bespoke items made from reclaimed timber, and a warm spectrum of green shades imbues the space, recalling the botanical inspiration of the product.

‘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, but with a world-class cocktail bar,’ explains Masterton-Smith.

The distillery’s archive of 2,000 gin recipes, dating back generations, is also housed in an antique shop display for all to see, a nostalgic touch that nods to the history of the space and the company.

‘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’.