Bombay Sapphire - Heatherwick's Gin Palace

Do you love Bombay Sapphire Gin? Love Architecture? Love Thomas Heatherwick? Then you'll love the new Bombay Sapphire distillery at Laverstoke Mill in Hampshire, England. 

British designer Thomas Heatherwick and his studio were commissioned to design and create the new distillery for the Gin company Bombay Sapphire. The project was a renovation of an old papermill which made banknotes for over 200 years. The renovation is the perfect combination of old and new due to the restoration of the existing red brick buildings and the addition of two new Glasshouses. 

The glasshouses (greenhouses) are used for growing the plants which are used to flavour Bombay Sapphires delicious gin. The genius part of the glasshouses is that they are heated by the warm air which is produced during the gin distillation process. The reason there are two separate glasshouses is because the botanicals used in Bombay's gin come from all over the world, therefore require different conditions to survive. 

The distillery opened this month, October 2014, ands visitors are given the chance to explore the ingredients used which give Bombay Sapphire gin its one of a kind flavour. After appreciating the flavours used in the gin they can explore the distillation process as well as taking in the rich history of the old paper mill.  

The distillery has won an award from BREAM with the rating 'Outstanding'. This is the first ever restoration project and distillery to ever be awarded such a high rating.