A Bar Worth Betting On.

Semiprecious started like most good things do—with a long conversation over drinks. We’d worked with Mike Capoferri and Rahul Marwah before on Thunderbolt and Night on Earth—two bars that helped redefine hospitality on the West Coast. This time, we went deeper, joining them not just as designers, but as co-owners. When we say we believe design can change a business, this was our chance to prove it.

From day one, we knew Semiprecious would be a different kind of cocktail bar, tech-driven but warm, European in spirit, and unapologetically local. The concept nods to the aperitivo culture of western Europe, but the heartbeat is pure Denver: accessible, community-focused, and a little irreverent. We led design across the board from brand, interiors, materials and even architect selection, treating the project as a fully integrated creative system.

A Logo with Legs, Literally.

Visually, the brand riffs on midcentury cocktail culture, pulling from places like The Stork Club and the handwritten elegance of 1950s drink menus. Our identity uses Haus, Termal, and Neue Montreal, typefaces that feel easy, colloquial, and direct—paired with a custom cursive set for titles. At the center of it all is Peggy, our Pegasus mascot. She’s cute, approachable, and slightly silly, basically a reminder not to take any of this too seriously. You’ll find her across the site and collateral, trying (and mostly failing) to run, fly, and generally behave like a normal horse.

Stable Materials, Wild Ideas.

Materially, we took cues from Le Corbusier; simple, honest materials used with care and confidence. The space was originally a 1952 furniture showroom, and we kept much of its character: canted windows, a stacked stone façade, and a wash of natural light. Inside, it’s all white oak, pegboard, tile, and factory lighting, utilitarian stuff elevated through craft and color. Our palette was led by oxblood and cobalt (a wink to jasper and lapis lazuli), grounding everything in the name Semiprecious. The bar top, made by the Good Plastic Company, is the first of its kind in the U.S., a 100% post-consumer material that looks like marble but started life as old appliances. Did we mention our office is upstairs? A nice perk of the project.

For the drinks, the team took Thunderbolt’s avant-garde cocktail philosophy and reimagined it through a European lens, focusing on drinks that are fast, consistent, and free of pretense. The tech streamlines the process so bartenders can focus on what matters: hospitality. And that spirit carries through the entire experience, beautiful, yes, but never precious.

As for the neighborhood, Sunnyside showed up. The bar has become a melting pot for the design, hospitality, and creative communities. For us, Semiprecious isn’t just a bar; it’s a model for what happens when design steps out of the role of decoration and into the role of partnership.