Thames Distillers raises our spirits with its new home and bar in London
Fords bar at Thames Distillers' new home is a future London classic, designed by Transit Studio; we raise a toast to the gin maker

The new home of Thames Distillers, the 11th-generation, family-led company of gin makers, is tucked away within a cobble-stoned, period industrial complex off London’s Old Kent Road. While at first glance, the business’s new setting might seem utilitarian and unassuming, it is one steeped in a history of making, trade and crafts, sitting in a part of the capital that has, in the past, teemed with production facilities, due to its proximity to global trade routes via the former Grand Surrey Canal.
Thames Distillers' new home and bar
Comprising a new distillery and client experience, the project forms part of a fresh chapter for the area, formerly a Victorian warehouse district. The distillery is set within The Bottle Factory, a campus recently revitalised by property specialist Fabrix as a creative workspace, event and production hub.
Having once served as a mineral water, lemonade and ginger beer bottling plant, the building is located next to an old essence company creating bitters and mixers. Continuing this tradition in drink-making of all kinds, Thames Distillers turned to Transit Studio and its founder, Zoe Masterton-Smith, to help transform the existing historical structure into a modern production facility and event space, when the thriving business was forced to relocate following the sale of its previous base in Clapham.
Director Charles Maxwell and his family have been distilling in London since 1681, making it one of the oldest family distillers in the UK and one of very few truly commercial distilleries left in the capital. Thames Distillers has created over 300 gins, and in any given year it distils over three million bottles of gin across as many as 60 different recipes.
‘As drinks and spirits today are more experiential than ever before, we wanted a new home that reflects that, practical but also full of character,’ says George Maxwell, Charles’ son and COO.
The new home on Old Kent Road was born of this desire. Its unmistakable centrepiece is a state-of-the-art bar, commissioned alongside one of Thames Distillers’ clients, Fords Gin. ‘When [Fords] heard we were moving, they wanted to jointly create a space where they can showcase their heritage. And we will be using it for our events too – and even for hire,’ says Maxwell.
‘The layout of the bar is the result of a collaboration between Leo Robitschek (cocktail royalty from NoMad Hotels and Eleven Madison Park, among others) and Fords Gin,’ explains Masterton-Smith. ‘The bar is ergonomically designed around a central, shared spirit and modifier well [a specialised storage space for the drinks], where the two cocktail stations are left and right-oriented. The bar is arranged for an economy of movement so that for each cocktail created, the bartender does not have to take more than one step.’
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Echoing the gin-making business’ love for British craft, the bar is wrapped in deep green marble with a fluted marble bar front, oak and reeded glass, and features bar lights reminiscent of soda siphons made from Holophane glass and porcelain. The space includes floorboards reclaimed from a former timber mill in Bristol; a mix of contemporary and vintage furniture pieces (including a dining table made from reclaimed timbers and midcentury furniture pieces such as Børge Mogensen & Tage Poulsen sofas); and an antique shop display unit for the distillery’s archive of 2,000 gins recipes they have created over their three centuries of operation.
Next to the bar and event space are Thames Distillers’ most precious possessions – Tom Thumb and Thumbelina, surprisingly small stills that have belonged to the business since the early 1990s. While the bar is the site’s most public-facing section, they are an integral part of the company’s new home, ensuring the long-standing business can keep producing its popular spirit for centuries to come.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Winter Olympics and Paralympics medal designs announced
The design for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games 2026 medals, held in Milan and Cortina, represents the connection between athletes and their support teams
-
Joel Quayson’s winning work for Dior Beauty at Arles considers the theme ‘Face-to-Face’ – watch it here
Quayson, who has won the 2025 Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents at Arles, imbues his winning work with a raw intimacy
-
Architect Erin Besler is reframing the American tradition of barn raising
At Art Omi sculpture and architecture park, NY, Besler turns barn raising into an inclusive project that challenges conventional notions of architecture
-
The inimitable Norman Foster: our guide to the visionary architect, shaping the future
Norman Foster has shaped today's London and global architecture like no other in his field; explore his work through our ultimate guide to this most impactful contemporary architect
-
Shard Place offers residents the chance to live in the shadow of London’s tallest building
The 27-storey tower from Renzo Piano Building Workshop joins The Shard and The News Building to complete Shard Quarter, providing a sophisticated setting for renters
-
Kengo Kuma’s ‘Paper Clouds’ in London is a ‘poem’ celebrating washi paper in construction
‘Paper Clouds’, an installation by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, is a poetic design that furthers research into the use of washi paper in construction
-
Foster + Partners to design the national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II
For the Queen Elizabeth II memorial, Foster + Partners designs proposal includes a new bridge, gates, gardens and figurative sculptures in St James’ Park
-
Wolves Lane Centre brings greenery, growing and grass roots together
Wolves Lane Centre, a new, green community hub in north London by Material Cultures and Studio Gil, brings to the fore natural materials and a spirit of togetherness
-
A new London exhibition explores the legacy of Centre Pompidou architect Richard Rogers
‘Richard Rogers: Talking Buildings’ – opening tomorrow at Sir John Soane’s Museum – examines Rogers’ high-tech icons, which proposed a democratic future for architecture
-
At the Royal Academy summer show, architecture and art combine as never before
The Royal Academy summer show is about to open in London; we toured the iconic annual exhibition and spoke to its curator for architecture, Farshid Moussavi
-
This ingenious London office expansion was built in an on-site workshop
New Wave London and Thomas-McBrien Architects make a splash with this glulam extension built in the very studio it sought to transform. Here's how they did it