The gin brand’s new Yarra Valley distillery is predicted to take production capacity to over a million bottles a year.
Nicknamed ‘Healesville 2.0’, Four Pillars’ new Healesville distillery is found directly adjacent to the brand’s original Lilydale Road distillery.
Described as ‘a new benchmark for craft gin distillery experiences worldwide,’ the Healesville location was designed by Melbourne-based Breathe Architecture, which is known for its focus on sustainability. Indeed, partly as a result of Breathe’s work on this new distillery, Four Pillars is now carbon neutral certified.
The new distillery boasts a footprint of some 1000sqm, an indoor-outdoor gin garden of botanicals (Jude’s Gin Garden) and multiple event and function areas. The new Healesville location represents a trebling of the capacity at the existing Four Pillars HQ, with bench, booth, table and bar-stool seating in both Beth’s Bar and Jude’s Gin Garden. In total, Healesville 2.0 has room for 300 guests, and will be capable of hosting up to 200,000 visitors a year.
Cameron Mackenzie, Four Pillars Co-Founder and Distiller expressed his thanks to those who had made the project possible.
“This has been a true labour of love for so many people and we should especially thank our architects Breathe, builders Neverstop, the local, state and federal governments who have all made a contribution not just to our building but to the whole road and surrounds, and most importantly to my wife Leah, Four Pillars’ Experience lead, who oversaw the whole two-year project,” Mackenzie said.
Construction entailed a concerted use of recycled and upcycled materials, including reused concrete and bricks, with increased use of solar and reduced use of glass.
Interior design and décor decisions were also guided by sustainability principles, making use of pineapple ‘leather’ upholstery and locally sourced furniture, while landscaping included plantings of native plants and botanicals. Gin is now piped directly to the main bar from the distilling facilities, reducing single-use glass consumption.
From a production perspective, the new distillery represents a significant upgrade for Four Pillars, which was established in 2014. An additional 2000 litre German-made copper Carl still is expected to arrive later in the year, taking the distillery’s number of stills up to six.
New blending, storage and bottling-line facilities are also present, and are expected to support 30 more local full-time jobs in both hospitality and production. All told, this expansion will further cement Four Pillars’ status as Australia’s largest gin-dedicated distillery, bringing total production capacity to a million bottles a year.
Additionally, the site contains a Four Pillars Gin Shop, featuring rare and limited edition gins available only at the Healesville location. Food menus that make use of spent gin botanicals are also on offer, with plans for a Four Pillars Tuck Shop (which will serve more substantial meals) later in the evening.
“This building will hopefully be one that the local community loves, that Victorians come visit regularly and that gin lovers from around the world feel drawn to when they visit one of the greatest cities in the world, Melbourne,” Mackenzie concluded.
‘Healesville 2.0’ is located at 2 Lilydale Road, Healesville, Victoria, and is open seven days a week, from 10.30 am to 5.30 pm Sunday to Thursday, and until 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays.