Salvaged items part of St. Louis speakeasy décor

St. Louis-based architecture and engineering firm The Lawrence Group Inc. partnered with general contractor Integrate Construction Partners, also based in St. Louis, to build, design and furnish a speakeasy style bar located in tunnels beneath the City Foundry STL building in St. Louis.

City Foundry STL is an entertainment venue located at the former site of the Century Electric foundry, which produced metal used in motors and generators. Lawrence Group and Integrate were hired to prepare space for one of the venues newest tenants, the None of the Above cocktail lounge.

The companies relied in part on salvaged items to create a space in which “you’ll swear you traveled back in time to a prohibition-era speakeasy."

Lawrence Group says the two companies were challenged with transforming the dark and dingy tunnels beneath City Foundry STL into an upscale speakeasy-style bar complete with a hidden room, moody décor and dimly lit passageways.

City Foundry STL overall as the focus of a $217 million redevelopment effort, one of the largest historic redevelopments in St. Louis history, according to Lawrence Group.

The nearly 1,600-square-foot None of the Above lounge, owned by St. Louis-based New + Found, features custom finishes such as dark wood appointments with brass and jewel-toned accents and a custom-made bar.

Other art deco flourishes, however, come courtesy of salvaged and restored objects, fixtures and furnishings.

“While there are some elements that still speak to the industrial roots of the space—electrical panel entry sequence, concrete floors and exposed pipes in the private library—as soon as you pass through the door at the end of the corridor you are met with more traditional finishes and furniture selections that truly transport you into a different time and place,” Lawrence Group associate interior designer Taylor Bradley says.

"Our team also wanted to be sure to incorporate a selection of found [salvaged] objects through a unique accent table, light fixtures and accessories to add to the unique experience.”

The project entailed challenges familiar to demolition and renovation contractors who have worked in urban settings, Lawrence Group says, including hurdles to access for haul-off of demolished material and the delivery of new materials. New concrete had to be brought in via elevator and wheelbarrow to where slab patching was performed at new infrastructure installations.