TC127 – Thirsty City 127 Craft brewery and cocktail bar

Thirsty City 127, at Lower Parel, Mumbai is a craft brewery and cocktail bar. Replacing the legendary “Barking Deer,” one of the first craft breweries in India. The new space improves the beer portfolio, and adds a craft cocktail bar to the space.

The studio set out to work towards a space that would bring to the forefront the iconic brewery, and then expand into spirits.  Additional spaces on the premises are a flexible room connected to the bar, and another bar on the first floor for private events. The bar is at the end of a narrow alley dotted with popular breweries, and restaurants. The space was crafted, much like a great, out of its basic elements- Specific ingredients, perfect pairing, and careful assembly.

Alcohol occurs in nature, from the depths of space to the primordial “soup” that may have generated the first life on Earth.¹ Almost every creature on the planet consumes alcohol. This zest for spirits has led to humanity being able to make it out of almost anything. This was a starting point for the studio’s exploration into the iconography that goes into the space. A set of spirits and beverages were chosen in consultation with the bartenders- Beer, Vodka, Gin, and malted liquor. Their respective plant bases were identified- Barley and Hops, Potato [sic], Juniper, and then ingredients that go into drinks- Sugarcane, Citrus, and water. These plant forms were studied in detail, and abstract forms of these were created with Unomono². These abstract forms- cast in Iron, Copper, and Brass make sculptural forms. Patination and corrosion is used to create colours. A large number of wave,  and cloud forms were created to tell  a story of the production of liquor. This set of sculptural forms creates the basis for the whole space, which is designed to tell a story of the crafting of the drink you hold.

Located at the end of the alley, in Mumbai, the space is tucked in and barely visible. The studio used the vegetable forms created for the space, using them in frames to tell a story of liquor. Every window is unique, custom-made, and presents the organic element in the aesthetic of the bar; lights in between each light up the various forms, and encourages you to continue on a journey through a crafted space.

One has to walk past this line of windows, to enter the main bar space. The door is an assemblage of liquid forms that unfolds in layers to reveal a rippled brass handle. Stepping in, a monogram in the floor greets you. The bar hides on the left, walking further in, one enters  an intimate space within brewery brewery; copper vessels surround you, and the space is dark. The mood is light, conversation, wafting aromas, the perfect  temperature, and music that holds conversation make the atmosphere. Make your way to the bar, or sit down in a chair, designed by the studio and intimately arranged for conversation. A large bar with seemingly unlimited liquor is at the far end of the space. Made of terrazzo with glass chips, brass coasters are in-built to point to a serving area. The bar stools, designed by the studio are perfectly weighted to not topple forwards while getting off. The floor is a tapestry of black limestone and dark terrazzo with coloured stone; brass strips give direction to the space.

The event space is flexible, and allows for a range of functions, from adding space to the bar, to hosting private events, or a gallery space. Held together by a fluted glass partition on the south, and a set of folded steel planes that make the stairway up to the next floor. A sofa under the stair holds in the north end.

The stairs in Thirsty City are made to feel  almost impossible, a single folded plane of steel that winds up four supports- nothing else. The handrail winds its way in a similar fashion starting at the bottom, and winding up and round the stair to meet with the viewer as they walk up.

The room above is a private, even more intimate bar that is treated similar to the one on the ground floor. The ceiling above is the night sky. Mirrored panels with small bulbs that light up the space, and are reflected at angles in the ceiling. The space is for private parties, or quiet drinks.

Thirsty City 127 is a labour of love, from every person involved, Studio Pomegranate appreciates the faith shown by the clients, and all the amazing people involved in crafting this space, where every element is created for the experience of being able to come with close friends and have an unforgettable experience.

Notes:

1. McGOVERN, PATRICK E. “ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES: Whence and Whither?” In Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages, 266-82. University of California Press, 2009.
2. Unomono: Creative Agency in Delhi- http://www.unomono.in

 

Project Facts:

Client:                                          Barking Deer hospitality private limited

Project location:     Thirsty City 127, Mathuradas Mill compound, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400030

Area:                                            4340 Sq.ft

Time:                                          3 Months

Project Team:                              Studio Pomegranate:Pranav Naik, Shweta Shah, Neel Davda, Rasika Rajagopalan,                                                     Parmi Savla, Manasvi Rane.

J.M. Baxi:Vir Kotak, Akriti Agarwal, Jitin Sahni, Manindra Nath Hati, Sameer

Barking Deer:  Gregory Kroistch, Abhishek Aggarwal

Consultants: Bajrang Sharma, Rameshwar Bhadhwa Alex Barstow, Gracian                                                                  D’Souza, Arijit Bose, Yogi Engineering,  Sunny Nikam,

Artists:  Anand Prabhudesai (Rich Steel),  Adil Khanna, Reva Dutta (Unomono)

Construction Team:Tanishq Interiors, Yogi Engineering, Mortar Construction, Rich Steel

Steel Trader’s Office, Mumbai

Studio pomegranate had, in 2016, spent days visiting and studying the markets of Bombay. Kalbadevi, CP tank, Zaveri Bazaar etc. The city has pockets of this central area earmarked to either particular trades, or with shops selling a particular commodity. One could find a building with a shop on the ground floor, and the owner and employees living above it. Conquest Steel and Alloys is one such business, dealing in ferrous and non-ferrous metals. They are a Marwari family that has dealt in the same material for three generations. They now trade steel across the world, and live in the high rise above this first floor office space.

Traditional metal trade uses rods and pipes; stacked on a metal rack. The owners of these establishments would set up a chair, and weighing scale for themselves in the racks. Walls are left bare, ceilings untreated. The focus is on the material to be sold. The only exception to this would be any kind of addition for comfort, a pillow, or a board to lean up against; coloured in a bright colour.

 

The space is 800 sq.ft, with a full size window at the North-West, walls on all the other sides, and a large column in the centre holding up an even larger looking beam. The first move was to focus on the material at hand- Steel; bend, cut, shear, pull, stretch, rust, patinate, paint, hold, use as a holder, and any other use we could find of it. The walls remain bare; made with white lime plaster, and a thin marble powder. The ceiling is untreated. Any additions are in colour, with a specific property attributable to each. The studio has experimented with the effects of chemicals on steel to bring about colour patination, Ferric Nitrate- Yellow; Allowing rust on weathering steel patinates to a beautiful Rust; Extreme heat and oxygen gives you a brilliant blue. These experiments come in as colour on the partition walls introduced in the space. The rest of the walls are white. The floor is cast without seams or joints, and curves up to the walls. This prevents furniture from brushing up against them. The ceiling is left exposed, and only past the beam is a false ceiling to hold lights. Tables are made with solid timber, without treating the edges, and leaving them as cut out of the tree. Cabinet doors are plain plywood. Studio pomegranate designed the luminaires and switchboards using weathering steel . Transparent partitions are made with the proportions of the trader’s racks. A sun shade is made with expanded steel mesh outside the window, and hangs off the custom steel brackets for the chajja. Art is added in in the form of photographs shot by Pranav while working with the client on other projects. The sculpture in the office also shows off the versatility of steel by bending, and folding an expanded mesh to cast shadows on the wall.

Project team:

Pranav Naik, Shweta Chhatpar, Palak Babel, Nasir Baig, Nisar, Imran, Bharat Panchal.