Presented with a former lumber warehouse and the vision of owner Rupert Michel, Ryan Jordan Industrial Design was tasked with the design, fabrication and sourcing to bring the space to life. Rather than creating a conventional distillery tasting room, we sought to establish a lounge with a singular spatial identity reflective of the high-quality spirits for which Stolen Bell is known. Set in a mountain town surrounded by the stunning peaks of the Rocky and Purcell Mountain ranges, the design choice most often made is to include those vistas as part of the program. In this instance the opposite direction was taken resulting in the removal of all windows and eschewing the mountain views. The lounge had to be animated by built surfaces and lighting, not scenery. Uniting the curvatures of the upholstered banquettes, the undulating ceiling, the textured concrete walls and floor was essential to framing both the distillery’s spirits and the guest experience.
The design draws on the distilling process and its associated infrastructure of brass-trimmed copper stills, voluminous tanks, and oak barrels. Responding to both the building's industrial shell and its mountain-town context, the project develops a unified material language that informs the walls, ceiling, floor, and millwork, allowing the interior to read as a single tactile and tonally restrained environment. The result is a timeless and transportive interior, a world distinct from the world outside, one that welcomes guests into a permanent evening. The curving white oak millwork reflects whisky barrels and towering column stills. Round brass mirrors are a nod to the portals on the tanks and stills. The bell shape of the signature bar shelves subtly reference the brand’s moniker. The ceiling rises and falls, like the storm clouds that drape the surrounding mountains. By interiorising the experience rather than relying on mountain views, Stolen Bell Distillery’s lounge and kitchen renounces typical mountain town vernacular in favour of a unique interior form and experience.
The built outcome has several outstanding features including custom banquettes built in studio that are continuous ribbons of white oak meandering through the space defining and enclosing the various seating and table areas. Each was produced in house relying on digital design and fabrication techniques that Ryan Jordan Industrial Design is noted for.
A defining feature of the project is the custom parametric ceiling installation that spans the lounge. Designed as both an acoustic and experiential element, the sculptural ceiling moderates sound throughout the space while integrating hundreds of individual LED light modules set within thousands of suspended acoustic fins. The installation creates a dynamic canopy overhead whose form is animated by programmable sequences of colour and brightness, with light diffused through the suspended fins. Each suspended fin and the custom framework housing the programmable lighting were designed and fabricated in studio.
The completed lounge establishes a new hospitality landmark for Stolen Bell Distillery, offering visitors a destination that celebrates both the making and enjoyment of premium spirits. Through a careful balance of material expression, lighting, acoustics, and spatial experience the project creates an enduring hospitality environment that reflects the patience, craft, and refinement inherent in the distilling process.
