Winery, tasting wine in extasy, BE

When our client moved back to Brussels after working in a Californian winery, the idea of a wine bar was a pretty radical concept for the Belgian market, to borrow a Californian phrase. Having a bite to eat, paired with a beautiful bottle of wine was exciting and innovative, and certainly designing and building a wine bar (one of the capital’s first) was a new venture for us.

When our client moved back to Brussels after working in a Californian winery, the idea of a wine bar was a pretty radical concept for the Belgian market, to borrow a Californian phrase. Having a bite to eat, paired with a beautiful bottle of wine was exciting and innovative, and certainly designing and building a wine bar (one of the capital’s first) was a new venture for us.

A tight budget and an original, stand-out concept was the order of the day. To achieve that wine cellar-feel, we painted the space black and lined the walls with shelves of glittering wine bottles – an Aladdin’s cave of burgundy beauty. The table legs, made from reclaimed height-adjustable ceiling props, which allowed people to sit at a table or prop up the bar, gave a rough and ready contrast. These ‘ingredients’ became the basis for a recipe that could be replicated in other districts of the city in need of a well-dressed drink.