British architects Short & Associates and MJP Architects have created a new underground events space for the wine suppliers to the British royal family.

London’s MJP Architects and Lincolnshire-based Short & Associates designed and created a new cellar underneath Berry Bros. & Rudd’s historic shop, from which they have been supplying wine to the royal family since the reign of King George III in the early 19th century.

The Sussex Cellar adds to the wine merchant’s existing Napoleon and Pickering Cellars beneath the shop and its townhouse on Pickering Place, behind the premises.

The cellar has been named after the duke of Sussex, one of seven royal dukes who were regular customers of the company in the early 19th century.

The Sussex cellar is spaced over two levels and accommodates up to 40 for a reception and lunch or dinner or 36 for a reception, tutored tasting then lunch or dinner.

Its design is influenced by Spanish wine cellars or bodegas, and uses handmade London tiles to create archways and columns that extend through both the mezzanine and the sub-basement level of the space.

Berry Bros. & Rudd holds around 800 wine events annually, as well as supplying to customers across the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.

Demetri Walters, sales manager at Private Wine Events, part of Berry Bros. & Rudd, said: “Our new Sussex Cellar affords us much-needed extra capacity in bringing wine education and entertainment to our clients.

“This latest venue is of a completely novel design that combines the feel of one of our traditional wine cellars with the exciting architecture, convenience and state-of-the-art gadgetry of a purpose-built venue.”