Planning Factory Bermuda has won a prestigious international award for its design of a bar in the global headquarters of Bacardi Limited.

The LOOP Design Awards, launched in Portugal in 2020, have honoured the local family design firm in the “themed design and heritage” category for their design of the 1862 Cocktail Bar at Bacardi.

The award was achieved with a helping hand from The Royal Gazette; the Planning Factory said its submission included photography shot by the newspaper’s chief photographer Akil Simmons at the launch of the bar.

The firm said the bar is a unique achievement in high-concept corporate interior design and architectural redesign.

It said Planning Factory Bermuda’s creative director Lindsay Barnett, Bacardi Limited’s managing director Douglas Mello, and a team of more than 100 expert artisans, produced an inspired corporate social space that underlines the company’s purpose to “make moments matter”.

Ms Barnett said: “The central concept of 1862 Cocktail Bar is to pay tribute to Bacardi Limited’s legacy.

“My custom-everything style, layers of inspiration from the Bacardi archives, and because Planning Factory Bermuda is also a family company, I was able to build the branded space and lead our team to The LOOP Design Award win!”

The firm said the awards jury received more than 700 entries from 56 countries.

Ms Barnett added: “As a second generation family business, it’s an honour to win The LOOP Design Awards in the Heritage & Design Category. My Mom, Cher Przelomski, founder of PF and current VP marketing, is proud of what we have created and will continue to build.”

The firm said some of the special design details of the space include:

•The entire portfolio of 200-plus brands and labels are displayed on 19” glass shelves

•The portrait wall of Bacardi founding fathers is flanked by rotating artefact installations

•The Bacardi signature is in wood inlay and metallic embroidery

•The Bacardi bat devices include railing finals and purse hooks

•The 1920s Bacardi Edifico bar is on coaster photographs, which shows parallels between current custom-crafted light fixtures, columns, and diamond motif

Ms Barnett was the lead designer on the project, while Madeline Fucile and Jordan Carbotti made up the design team, and photography credits on the entry went to Ms Barnett, Ms Fucile, Dena Merlino Scott and The Royal Gazette.