The Clubhouse: Holborn Circus by Fletcher Priest


With the feel of a members’ club but taking the contemporary notion of a co-working space, this latest Clubhouse offers a space for a new breed of business



Project Info

Client: Clubhouse London
Interior designer: Fletcher Priest Architects
Quantity surveyor & project manager: Gardiner & Theobald
M & E Engineer Waterman Building Services
Structural engineer David Dexter Associates
Contractor Area
Completion date June 2018
Size 1,110 sq m


Words by Sophie Tolhurst
Images by Jamie McGregor Smith

The clubhouse Holborn Circus represents a new typology of members’ club: one that blends the traditional club with the more contemporary notion of a co-working space. Instead of providing a setting for members to socialise through leisurely pursuits, this environment is more conducive to the blurred boundaries of work and play that have long been manifest in the creative industries, and already catered for by the Soho House model, which have since spread to a wider culture of work.

A variety of work spaces are provided at the new ClubhouseA variety of work spaces are provided at the new Clubhouse

The exclusivity of the members’ club offers the feeling of kinship and shared values that the average co-working space doesn’t guarantee. It is designed to encourage serendipitous social interaction, but also functions as the front-of-house space for members to meet with external clients – a space in which they are proud to present their business.

Francesca Gernone, partner and head of interiors at Fletcher Priest, is used to working with high-profile clients such as Google who use innovative working methods as part of their overall strategy. Clubhouse London wants to cater for this new breed of business, and so Fletcher Priest’s ability to provide the right environment for these changing working practices led to the initial commission for Clubhouse Bank and the subsequent invitation to work on the new Holborn branch. As well as researching studies into wellbeing in the workplace, feedback from its first Clubhouse interior has been central to Fletcher Priest’s second project for the brand.

A variety of work spaces are provided at the new ClubhouseA variety of work spaces are provided at the new Clubhouse

Flexible working spaces range from hotdesks to bookable meeting rooms and board rooms, as well as private phone booths or a secluded nook. Self-service refreshment areas with coffee-pod machines and drinks fridges are spaced throughout in addition to a dedicated and serviced cafe area, and a lounge serves as buffer between work and the outside world. Here the furniture reverts to the comforts of a traditional members’ club, with deep-seated sofas and carpet.

A variety of work spaces are provided at the new ClubhouseA variety of work spaces are provided at the new Clubhouse

They desired the choice of workspaces to be apparent on entering the club and so a number of iterations are visible from the reception desk. Meeting rooms have staggered frontages, and dining and lounge areas are more open, with changes in flooring and discontinuous walls made of radial fins demarcating areas without closing them off. Attention has been paid to ensure privacy when necessary – individual meeting rooms and phone booths appear open but are fully enclosed by metal-framed glazing and acoustically sealed.

A selection of both communal and private areas are provided, including phone booths and cafeA selection of both communal and private areas are provided, including phone booths and cafe

Building on the identity established in the first project, Fletcher Priest allowed the design for the new Clubhouse to be inspired by its location – a recurring, chain-like pattern acknowledges the history of nearby jewellery district Hatton Garden. The design mixes pale parquet flooring and statement furniture with the luxurious touches of a members’ club: deep velvet upholstery, timber panelling and bronze mirror cladding. Branding is subtle, and the Clubhouse logo frosted on glass is intended to lend a touch of art-deco glamour to the design.

A selection of both communal and private areas are provided, including phone booths and cafeA selection of both communal and private areas are provided, including phone booths and cafe

The overall material palette was finalised in collaboration with Clubhouse founder Adam Blaskey and COO Owen Gregory, and led by their research the designers have ensured enough colour and greenery to improve members’ feelings of wellbeing. The furniture used throughout balances office functionality with the aesthetic of luxury hospitality, but within this offers variations on the same theme: seating configurations and placement offer seclusion and relaxation for individuals and groups alike.

An internal staircase allows easy access between the floors, and so as members move through the club they discover further variations in atmosphere, differing moods aided by the changing manner in which natural light enters the space across two floors and from all sides of the triangular floor plate.

A selection of both communal and private areas are provided, including phone booths and cafeA selection of both communal and private areas are provided, including phone booths and cafe

Gernone ascribes to the space the feeling of a First Class airport lounge, which might shed light on a key aspect of the design: though the members may not be about to board a plane, there might still be a sense of crossing borders, overcoming barriers and forging new partnerships. A term used by Fletcher Priest and the Clubhouse has been ‘growth’.

Catering for the ever-changing needs of more than 400 fast-growing and forward thinking businesses, Fletcher Priest takes this ethos to create a flexible and responsive environment. The space is set up for serendipitous encounters, where as-yet-unknown ideas might be born, and lasting relationships made – a members’ club with status but without stasis.

Main Suppliers

Glazed partitions
Komfort partitioning solutions
komfort.com

Joinery
Tremlett & Turner
t-tl.com

Moveable wall
London Wall
londonwall.co.uk

Flooring: Carpet
Desso
desso.co.uk

Interface
interface.com

Milliken
milliken.com
 

Flooring: Wood
Havwoods
havwoods.co.uk

Leather upholstery
Yarwood Leather
yarwoodleather.com

Textiles
Kvadrat
kbadrat.dk

Romo Group
romo.com

Wallpaper
Cole & Sons
cole-and-sons.com/en/








Progressive Media International Limited. Registered Office: 40-42 Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 8EB, UK.Copyright 2024, All rights reserved.