A canvas of steel and red brick
It is not every day that we are invited to breathe new life into an industrial icon, let alone imagining an Irish whiskey distillery within the colossal, dormant shell of the Guinness Power Station. Nestled in the heart of Dublin, the Roe & Co Distillery project presented a rare design challenge: honoring the raw, utilitarian power of a decommissioned energy plant while cultivating a sophisticated, contemporary hospitality experience. Working hand in hand with RKD Architects we delivered an impactful aesthetic whilst ensuring the brand narrative wasn’t eclipsed by the building’s sheer structural gravity.
Experiential Positioning
Working with Diageo we co-ideated a tour that stepped away from production and process in favour of liquid led immersive experiences
Interior Design
We measured every concept against our ultimate design standard: "industrial grace" - a striking balance of the bold and the refined.
Graphic Interpretation
We love weaving in unexpected graphical discoveries. Here, we embraced a technical engineering aesthetic that directly honours the building's industrial history.
Industrial legacy
Built in 1948, the Guinness Power Station was once the industrial heartbeat of St. James’s Gate, an imposing example of mid-century functionalism designed to provide the steam and electricity required for the world’s largest brewery. After being decommissioned in the 1990s, this cathedral of energy sat dormant until the 2019 reinvention as the home of Roe & Co.
Industrial Grace
The design is anchored by the core philosophy of ‘Industrial Grace’. This concept informed every aesthetic decision, creating a deliberate pivot from the raw, utilitarian language of the building toward an elegant, polished execution that similtaneously juxta-poses and honours the building - a softening through a layer of refined and considered sophistication. Within this space the deliberate decision was made to pivot away from a traditional, linear production story. Instead of a standard “grain-to-glass” tour, the design focuses on the a series of immersive, hands-on environments that demystify the building blocks of whiskey creation and how to drink it. Through curated constellation blending rooms and high-energy mixology workshops, guests move beyond passive observation to physically engage with the whiskey’s creative potential.
Industrial Interpretation
To guide guests, we created a series of, industrial engineering drawings that function as infographics throughout the tour. These were rendered by our in-house artist, who refined this drafting style early in his career while creating the original technical blueprints for the iconic DeLorean motorcar. The same illustration style adorned the cocktail menu entitled ‘The Roe & Co Drinks Manual’, and is a masterful extension of the distillery’s ‘Industrial Grace’ philosophy. Conceptualised as an authentic engineering handbook, the design pays homage to the site’s former life.
