alphabet city


enjoy at home. We really wanted to incorporate plenty to watch, do and enjoy but within a luxurious club setting. There's a small stage and DJ booth, guitars and amps to encourage impromptu as well as programmed happenings and after parties. If there's a cool sporting event or launch requiring extra visual impact then you can draw back the drapes and watch the action on a sensational screen wall in full HD.


Q


How much did the O2 arena itself influence you


in your design ideas? We didn't want to feel as if the club was tucked away in The O2. Alphabet City enjoys a prominent position over two floors and can be directly accessed from the main atrium. The upper floor overlooks the atrium and through the slats in the bespoke black blinds you have a great platform from which to observe gathering audiences. The neon blue of the atrium's feature light installation filters in to the club and that electric colour is softened but complemented by the black, blue and grey palette of the soft furnishings. We've added blasts of funky colour to offset this and create drama and excitement.


Q


There are quite a lot of different functioning


elements to this space, how did you go about incorporating it all? While the space that we had to play with had peculiarities these ended up working very well for a members' club setting as the spaces could be 'sectioned'. The entrance leads in to a soft carpeted lounge area and this turns a corner into wood flooring near for the stage and bar areas to encourage more activity and socialisation among members. The industrial ceiling fittings and air con were already an open feature but once interspersed with terrific pendant lighting from Tom Dixon


and chandelier lighting, the overall effect becomes very rock and roll. It was essential to create a sense of luxury from the main entrance at ground level so that one's ascent in to the club would also be a journey up and into something exclusive but welcoming. Again huge bronze Tom Dixon globe chandeliers and the photographic exhibition really set this scene well.


Q


Did the cocktail menu inspire your design


choices, or was it written up in response to your finished concept? I was briefed to create a stunning focal bar that would be as opulent as practical and would be the nerve centre of cocktail making. It's true to say that the cocktail choices were probably honed after the club design had taken shape. What is evident is that the drinks menu, created by Damian Williams Head Bar Tender for Alphabet Group, is supremely decadent. The huge prawns on


side of the Bloody Mary's with toffee-coated dipping cherry tomatoes are a meal in themselves and house cocktails, like the Pasiflora which is garnished with a pineapple ring crisp is another show stopper. The bar itself is lavish but classic with large black button-backed bar stools for members and guests to encourage conversations at the bar and interaction with bar staff. A stunning crystal and mirror display forms the back bar in which Belvedere Vodka is one of the premium spirits displayed along with a shimmering collection of crystal decanters and the usual library of premium spirits, champagne, fine wine and beer.


Q


How do you go about creating that feeling of


‘exclusivity’ that is so essential to private members clubs? Good furniture and low lighting! And a look and feel that is somehow familiar, comforting and welcoming, yet far removed from most people's normal style. So that they are stepping inside another world that they and their peers don't normally inhabit, but which they feel aspirationally at home in.


Q


What is Mango’s design philosophy?


When it comes to bars, it's "Don't design for the sake of designing." I have quite a pragmatic approach that comes from designing bars for clients who don't have or want to throw money at superfluous design extravagances that at the end of the day don't make them money, or even worse, make a bar


harder for them to operate. The big money here has been spent on the furniture, the part of the design that the customer touches and really appreciates, but not all of that is expensive. Key statement pieces like the huge chesterfields elevate the cheaper, simpler items.


Q


Would you say the brand has a signature style?


Alphabet Group or Mango? Mango - no. A successful bar comes from a solid food, drink and operational concept and target that then needs a certain environment to make it work, not the other way around. If you start with an empty site and someone just says, "design me a bar, but I don't know what our offer or target market is", then where do you start? You end up with design for the sake of design and we're right back in the late 90's with shapes and materials being used just for the sake of it.


Alphabet Group, yes. For the reason above! Alphabet City, and the sister bars which will follow will share elements of the design, be it the painted wood panelling, the carpet pattern, or the style of the furniture, they are part of a family, and should be identifiable as such but without being identikit rollouts.


Mango Architecture 62 Browning Road London EN2 0EW Tel: 0780 137 1114 Web: MangoLondon.com


Commercial Interiors 7


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