WHISKY BAR
The Doss House is a skillful adaptation of a 172-year-old Sydney building into a luxurious whiskey bar that pays respect to the building’s many former lives.
The interiors have been carefully curated to showcase bespoke, crafted spaces that reference the building’s past as an opium den, gambling house, bootmaker and boarding house.
Above all, the design was heavily inspired by the commercial and maritime development of The Rocks precinct, and it attempts to capture the contradictions of refinement and larrikinism that were once so prevalent in Sydney’s history.
“Reviewing all the historical reference notes and property information on hand we realised the rich tapestry of characters that were known to have worked, used or inhabited the spaces,” says Peter Ahern, co-founder and director of Buck&simple.
These characters were taken as reference points to help design six distinct ‘rooms’ that capture some of that history:
UNG QUOY’S DEN: Inspired by the story of ‘Jasper’ Ung Quoy, who was a notable Chinese businessman, later investigated for links tied to the sale of opium and investigated under the Royal Commission into Chinese gambling and immorality.
THE BOOTMAKER’S: References the bootmaking trade that developed in the Rocks area. It was particularly inspired by notable bookmakers/watchmakers Mark Burge and Neil Quinn.
UNWIN’S STORIES: Inspired by the English heritage of Frederic Wright Unwin, solicitor and director of the Australasian sugar company that built the Stores in 1843- 1846. The room is a play on the tales he would have from his travels.
DOCK BAR: References the rich maritime history of the precinct and inspired by the dingy basement dock bars of Circular Quay in the 19th century.
DOCK YARD: Inspired by the bustling Docks activity at The Rocks in the 18th – 19th centuries.
SAILORS GARDEN: Based on the trips the ‘Sailors’ have taken to the Middle East and Asia as they came and docked at Sydney cove.
THE ADAPTION
It wasn’t an easy journey, with significant restrictions due to the building’s heritage status. The construction team was also faced with the challenge of working in a compact, delicate space in the short timeframe typical of a commercial fitout.
Early on, it was decided that the palette of the bar would be centred around respecting the building’s existing structure, using a language of construction typical of the period.
“Being a state-listed heritage building with thick and heavily hand-tooled sandstone block walls, thresholds and sills and original hardwood ceiling/floor structures, the venue has as much inherent character as it is possible to lease in Australia,” says Ahern.
“Heritage requirements stipulated no wall fixings were permitted at all, protective floor layers were required to be laid prior to any new finishes and all detailing was to preserve the original fabric of the site.”
The architects allowed the building’s rich history to pave the evolution of the space.
For this reason, cabinetry and banquettes needed to be built as a secondary carcass sitting free of walls. Floor tiling and parquetry were also laid over ply substrates, sitting atop a concrete slab laid over a sand blinding bed that protects potential convict-era remnants.
Brass detailing, textured oak timbers and warm diffused lighting over textured tapestries, artefacts and antique furniture were chosen to accentuate and enrich the historically layered spaces.
“The final key to preserving fabric of buildings of this vintage was maintaining airflow for existing structures to reduce the detrimental build-up of moisture,” says Ahern.
“We were required to create and maintain access to ‘air gaps’ between the fittings and the existing building. Integrating the requirements of airflow balanced against the requirements of food and drink premises compliance required a novel approach to the detailing.”
This project is a return to craft, something that is becoming more common as customers increasingly seek a unique experience with a slower pace. With so much tradition in the making and drinking of whiskey, the architects allowed this tradition and the building’s rich history to pave the way for the evolution of the space.