By Jed Lanyon
Four Pillars’ Healesville home is set for a $6 million makeover as a 12-month re-development commenced on Monday 8 February.
The development sits directly adjacent to its current home and will incorporate new hospitality, production, bottling and a spectacular events space. All of this will be encased in a new facade. The new building will incorporate hospitality for up to 250 guests, a new yet-to-be-named sixth German-designed Carl still, increased off-street parking and a special sensory surprise.
The development, which was deferred from 2020 due to Covid-19, is a vote of confidence in the Yarra Valley as a destination as well as a firm commitment that Four Pillars will continue to call Healesville home for many years into the future.
“It’s about 30 more jobs for the region, which is incredibly exciting and it’s a real statement, not just for Four Pillars but for Australian distilled spirits,” said Four Pillars co-founder Cameron Mackenzie at a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday 5 February.
“We bought this property three and a half years ago and we weren’t really sure what to do,” he said. “I’m not going to lie, Stu, Matt and I had officially pushed all our chips into the middle of the table when we bought this property and it was slightly terrifying.”
After a year of Covid-19 delays, Mr Mackenzie said he’s “excited” to see work get underway.
“I feel like Dale Kerrigan today, I’m digging a hole.”
The new development aims to blend seamlessly with the current distillery and hospitality offering, which is a repurposed timber yard, and will increase visitor capacity to more than 200,000 visitors a year. In 2019, close to 100,000 people passed through its doors making Four Pillars one of the most popular destinations in the Yarra Valley.
“Since we have reopened over summer the distillery has been busier than ever and too often, we have queues out the front and far too many people are turned away from sharing a drink with us. With this new home that shouldn’t, hopefully, be a problem any longer.”
The development is also expected to bring at least 30 new jobs to Healesville and tops off a significant year for Four Pillars as the gin brand celebrated the opening of its Sydney distillery as well as taking out back to back Gin Producer of the Year awards at the International Wine and Spirits Competition.
Yarra Ranges Tourism CEO Simon O’Callaghan told Star Mail, “It’s exciting to see Four Pillars take that next step in what has been an amazing journey. What a fun, exciting, authentically Australian product that we’ve all grown to love in the local community.”
The new Four Pillars address will be on 2-6 Lilydale Road, with the development earmarked for completion in December. The current Four Pillar distillery, including all hospitality, will not be impacted by the development.
