The Mechanical Mixologist

Product / Strategy / Experience

London, United Kingdom

Project Overview

Clients: Inception Group, Bombay Sapphire 
Location: London, United Kingdom 
Completion: 2019
Disciplines: Product / Strategy / Experience

The Mechanical Mixologist is cocktail-making machine inspired by Isambard Brunel we developed.

Developed in collaboration with Bombay Sapphire and Inception Group, the Mechanical Mixologist was conceived as an immersive, experience-led installation. The invention allows guests to watch their Negroni being crafted while feeling transported back in time.

The machine was commissioned for the Victorian-themed Mr Fogg’s “Society of Exploration,” an underground cocktail bar that opened in September 2018 just moments from bustling Charing Cross station, famously known as the departure point of Mr Fogg, the central character in Jules Verne’s 1873 novel Around the World in Eighty Days, as he began his legendary journey around the globe.

The Challenge

Created in partnership with Bombay Sapphire and Inception Group, the Mechanical Mixologist sought to elevate the act of cocktail-making into a destination experience. The ambition was not simply to automate a drink, but to choreograph a sensory journey by merging mechanics, storytelling, and brand theatre into a single immersive moment.

Strategic Insight

While automation typically removes theatre from craft, we recognised that mechanics could instead amplify ritual. The act of making a Negroni is inherently performative that is measured pours, precise timing, layered ingredients. Rather than conceal the process, we chose to elevate it.

For Bombay Sapphire, heritage and botanical complexity are central to brand identity. The opportunity was to translate that layered character into a kinetic system , one that felt engineered yet romantic, industrial yet nostalgic. By revealing the choreography of gears, valves, and calibrated motion, the installation reframed automation as spectacle rather than efficiency.

In collaboration with Inception Group, we positioned the Mechanical Mixologist not as a machine, but as a temporal device, transporting guests into a reimagined era of craft. The result was an experience where precision mechanics deepened emotional engagement, turning a cocktail into a moment of narrative immersion.

“We wanted to build a machine that Phileas Fogg would approve of, something experiential and authentic.
The period concept offered an ode to the age of steam while representing the time and travel woven in Jules Verne's novel.”

Richard Moss - Founder

Design Response

  • Spatial System


    The Mechanical Mixologist operates as a linear kinetic system, where each movement triggers the next. A guided conveyor advances the glass through a timed sequence of ice delivery, dispensing, stirring, and presentation.

  • Material & Object


    Each component was custom-engineered in brass, steel, and glass, combining CNC machining, 3D printing, and hand-finishing. The result balances mechanical accuracy with Victorian character.

  • Mechanical Choreography


    Ice is released via a motorised lifting arm before the glass moves to the pour station. A rotating wheel aligns each ingredient, ensuring precise calibration and repeatability.

    At the final station, ice is stamped with the Mr Fogg's insignia. A linear actuator drives the stirring mechanism, delivering optimal dilution in 45 seconds before the drink slides forward for service.

  • Brand Integration


    Brand identity is embedded within the ritual itself. The exposed mechanics echo the layered complexity of Bombay Sapphire, while the stamped ice anchors the experience within the world of Mr Fogg's.

    Automation becomes storytelling rather than efficiency.

  • Process & Collaboration


    The system required complex automation within tight spatial constraints. Every moving part demanded calibration and precision.

    We partnered with Nick Reneckles of Nicholas Alexander to realise the multi-layered brief, combining engineering expertise with shared curiosity and craft.

Process

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Results

An engineered spectacle. Guests gather, watch, and wait as precision mechanics unfold. Turning a simple cocktail into a moment of narrative immersion.

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