Member Article

DV8 Designs Completes Third Castle Street Project With The Launch Of Sanctuary Tap

DV8 Designs has brought to life Castle Street’s latest venue in the form of Sanctuary Tap.

The Cheshire based interior design company has transformed the space into a niche bar, tap and craft beer emporium in the heart of Liverpool’s commercial district with a six-figure budget.

The project marks Director Lee Birchall and his team’s third appointment on Castle Street following previous creative overhauls on local bars and restaurants including Rox and Castle St Townhouse.

Lee said: “Sanctuary Tap is an independently owned bar with a focus on quality products and so it was important to get the interior exactly right in order to reflect this. Castle Street is a prominent dining and drinking destination within Liverpool City Centre, so we wanted to make Sanctuary Tap stand out from the crowd with a homely atmosphere ideal for those looking for a place to relax and enjoy a real taste of Liverpudlian hospitality with a local cask ale in hand.

“Having worked on a number of locations on Castle Street, we realise the need to achieve a distinct atmosphere that complements each venue’s unique offering whilst maintaining a high-end feel reflective of the location and its cosmopolitan postcode. Sanctuary Tap offers a relaxed yet contemporary vibe accomplished with the use of tarnished coppers, exposed brick and rustic finish to the tiling throughout playing on elements of a more traditional pub.”

Following its refurbishment, the venue houses a raised level to create additional seating at the rear. With the primary focus of the bar being on craft ales, the bar structure itself includes branding from Northern breweries including Hawkshead alongside brewery terminology such as ‘Mashing and Lautering’, which are used in all grain beer brewing to describe how brewers go from malted grain to wort in the kettle.

Lee added: “Having previously worked with bar owner Tony Burns on Castle Street’s Rox, it was great to be invited to work on his next project in the form of Sanctuary Tap. Both venues are contrastingly different when it comes to their culinary offerings, with Rox serving chic cocktails from day to night and Sanctuary Tap specialising in carefully selected draught beers and real ales. With this in mind, it was important to create a unique identity for each site in terms of look and feel. We are delighted to add yet another Castle Street venue to our diverse portfolio with a fourth project already in the pipeline for 2018 – watch this space!”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Craig Guy .