The Lower Third,
Outernet London

The brief

The Lower Third occupies the renovated home of the former 12 Bar on Denmark Street, the street long known as London’s Tin Pan Alley, and opened as part of Outernet in September 2022. Founded by music industry figures Karrie Goldberg and Tristan Hoffman, it takes its name from the band David Bowie played with in 1960s London, and it set out to pair the ease of a dive bar with drinks of real ambition.

It is a small room with a lot asked of it. The bar serves guests who settle in for the evening and a steady stream who grab a drink before heading downstairs to the live music space, and its menu is heavy on cocktails while still pouring several draught products. Space was tight, so the challenge was clear from the outset: deliver a high specification underbar to a minimal footprint.

Working with every millimetre

The Lower Third was one of seven bars we designed across Outernet, but it had it’s own unique requirements. The back bar was too shallow to take any refrigeration at all. That meant every bottle and garnish that needed to stay cold had to find a home in the underbar instead, without crowding the bartenders working at it.

Designing the workstation

Shannon Tebay, formerly of The American Bar at The Savoy and Death & Co in New York, joined as beverage director, with a list of sixteen cocktails each named after an album recorded on Denmark Street. Drinks with that much craft in them depend on a bartender having everything within a single reach, and that is what a Cantilever underbar is built to deliver.

We produced a two station underbar with large adjustable ice chests, sinks, pitcher rinsers, a beer dispense station, glass storage, coffee preparation and service rails.

All of the refrigeration moved onto the underbar, with two bottle coolers and two bespoke refrigerated drawer units built directly beneath the ice chests, so chilled ingredients sit exactly where the drinks are made.