Disco Pantera

Disco Pantera is a Sydney CBD cocktail bar by brothers Gordon and Ross Purnell. It’s in the pumping Quay Quarter Lanes precinct, and sits upstairs from sibling venue Tigra.

Taking inspiration from New York in the ‘70s, Disco Pantera is an elevated nightlife setting with vintage lighting, bolts of bright blue, deadstock vintage tiles, and reclaimed wood and stone elements.

Cocktails feature inventive combinations of global flavours, with highlights like a chimichurri margarita, a play on milk punch topped with fragrant oils to evoke ‘70s cologne, and the Cleopatra’s Martini with goat’s milk washed gin and vibrant spirulina oil.

The crew also nabbed up 'Best Bar Design' in The World's Best 50 2025.

"The joy for us was in the work itself - the story-telling, intentional design process, the discovery and the team work," says Cass Siow, interior designer.

"We never set our sights on any awards, our dream was to build a bar founded on our core values and  to share it with our guests. We’re just happy that other people love it as much as we do."

"We have to say, winning this award tells us that the industry is hungry for venues that are driven by purpose. We built this space using salvaged and reclaimed materials. We carefully curated unique vintage pieces and we essentially re-purposed as many things we could that were destined for landfill. We didn’t design this fitout out of a catalogue, and it was hard, dedicated and delicate work."

The story of Tigra & Disco Pantera’s design begins with a serendipitous find: a box of 1950s handmade tiles from Bendigo Pottery, picked up through Facebook Marketplace. Labeled “coffee table tiles,” they were meant for a project that never existed—but they ignited the vision for the bar. From there, the team set out on a journey of discovery, collecting and curating materials with a focus on adaptive reuse, storytelling, and collaboration. Every element of the space reflects this ethos: reclaimed timber, second-hand appliances, vintage lighting, and artwork all contribute to a look that is both distinctive and sustainable. 

"As you enter Tigra you’ll notice the service area is built as a counter space resembling a domestic kitchen addressing the acute lack of space and making it feel like the kitchen of the house party, a chance for a more intimate conversation," exaplain co-director Ross Purnell.

"The granite countertop came from the demo of another hospitality venue. The vintage lighting includes an Etorre Sottsass x Ikea wall light from 1987 and 90s Danish sconces dubbed the "blue tacos". We bought four wine fridges off the second-hand market, commercial oven, induction stove, thermomix and a fully restored meat slicer from the 1950s. The sound system was donated to the project; some immaculate speakers and a Marantz amplifier from the 1980s."

Reddie crafted bespoke seating and tables for the venue, featuring dual stool variations, modular surfaces that allow flexible arrangements, and prefabricated banquettes with hidden storage compartments. Using off-site assembly for the banquettes reduced material waste during installation, and every piece was intentionally built to enable future maintenance or restoration.

Inclusivity formed the foundation of the interior concept, echoing the ethos of disco culture. All furnishings can be repositioned to accommodate groups of varying sizes and accessibility requirements. The venue includes an ambulant elevator alongside twice the standard number of accessible restrooms spanning both levels. 

At the heart of Disco Pantera is its bar, stretching 7.5 metres and reachable from any corner of the venue. Ergonomically arranged speed rails, positioned at 545cm in height with 920cm spacing, facilitate all house pours efficiently. Three ‘L-shaped’ stations provide consistent serving capacity regardless of crowd size, with identical setups allowing all cocktails to be crafted within arm’s reach. A one-metre passage between speed rails and refrigeration units ensures smooth circulation. Dual gelato-style freezers at either end of the bar maximise frozen glassware storage, while signature martinis can be chilled to –25 degrees for optimal service.

"What we set out to create was an elegant space where people can sip on cocktails into the wee hours and turn the party up when the evening calls for it,"says co-director Gordon Purnell.

"We were inspired by times when times like these were at their finest: think Chicago in the late 70s when house music was born. The design is both raw and polished. We wanted to prove that a fitout could be built with minimal virgin materials and focus on quality materials that last longer. Re-use isn’t cheap, you’ve got to be smart, considered and creative. There’s no catalogue, you spend all hours looking for the right materials and objects to bring together. It builds a narrative and that to us is how the soul of a bar grows."

Now check out more of the best bars in the Sydney CBD.

Image credit: Disco Pantera | Supplied