Fermentation with Imagination is the mantra of Victorian boutique craft beer producer White Rabbit. Foolscap were approached to design a barrel hall that echoed the brand’s love of continual experimentation following the relocation of the entire brewery. Foolscap’s response was to design a space reminiscent of an inventor’s workshop, set deep in the forest. A place of comfort, where the quiet hum of the distillery and enjoyment of a cooling ale go hand-in-hand.

Situated in a former wool mill complex in Geelong, White Rabbit Barrel Hall capitalises on the industrial beauty and generous volume of its historical red brick building. The project also builds on a place strategy developed by Foolscap and Relative to enliven the precinct.

Entering through a narrow, obscured porthole door, patrons enter the Barrel Hall with sightlines into the working brewery, a wondrous space of tinkering and experimentation, filled with the sounds, smell and activity of a working brewery. The journey through the barrel hall reveals open fermenters and a tasting lab, where a fresh brew can be enjoyed beneath a green canopy of ferns and ivy. A general store area offers guests a chance to sample from a providore of carefully selected local produce.