When you walk into CHILL Ice House, you are provided with a blue or red hooded designer parka and gloves, which are necessary when surrounded by 185 thousand pounds of ice. The furniture, bar and décor are all made of ice. You will immediately notice the transparent ice, which is created by jets through reverse osmosis and lit up with brightly coloured LED lights. “My uncle taught us the technology,” says co-owner Nic Bayley. Some of the ice décor even features colour, made from snow and acrylic paint.
CHILL Ice House, which opened in July 2014, was created by brothers Nic and Gresham Bayley. In 1984, their uncle launched Iceculture, an ice carving business their cousin Heidi has since taken over. When he was only 11 years old, Nic was captivated by chain sawing ice and it became his inspiration. A former stand-up comedian, Nic teamed up with his brother Gresham—a business graduate—to jumpstart CHILL Ice House. The business, which is family owned and operated, also takes into account their parents’ background as entrepreneurs and their mother’s experience in event planning. According to Nic, it was a family effort.
