Prominent gin-makers Bombay Sapphire commissioned the creation of the company’s first in-house production facility at an old Victorian paper mill in Laverstoke, Hampshire, on a 20,000 square-metre rural property along the southern coast of England. The abandoned 18th century paper mill’s original brick buildings were converted into the distillery, while a pair of phenomenal curved glass greenhouses were added to house the 10 tropical and Mediterranean botanicals used to create the world famous gin. Throughout the renovation process, Bombay Sapphire and architects Heatherwick Studio were dedicated to creating a sustainable and efficient distillery, which upheld the heritage of the site. In recognition of this, the gin distillery was awarded the highly prestigious BREEAM (Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method) Award for Industrial Design. The glasshouses also take full advantage of advances in glass technology, one of which is EnduroShield’s easy clean nanotechnology. Not only does EnduroShield protect the glass form staining and etching but also helps to reduce environmental and monetary costs from ongoing maintenance. This article describes the project in more detail.
