London Members Clubs - Design Focus: 2 The Arts Club
‘The Arts Club’ London
The Arts Club : A Members Club with Rooms, London
In our Journal series celebrating the best of hospitality interior design and interior architecture in the UK, we take our top three favourite Members’ clubs in London and reveal their unique and distinct design ingredients.
WOOLF Interior Design & Interior Architecture has a plethora of ties to artists, gallery owners, art collectors and art consultants. We are specialist interior designers of period buildings, and have an extensive history of curating art work for residential and commercial interiors. It is from this perspective that the Arts Club, with its blend of historic architecture, art work and interior design is a particular favourite of WOOLF.
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Looking at the Arts Club through the lens of interior designers of boutique hotels, we like to reflect on and record the best of British Hotel Interior Design from the past and present. In our work at WOOLF Interior Design & Interior Architecture we often draw upon historical art and design to inform and inspire. The Arts Club has been world renowned since 1896, when the Club relocated from its original home on Hanover Square to its present elegant historic London townhouse at 40 Dover Street, affording its members a comfortable and impressive base in Mayfair in London’s West End. It has survived two World Wars, including a direct hit on the building during the Blitz of 1940.
The Arts Club was instituted for the “purpose of facilitating the social intercourse of those connected with, or interested in Art, Literature or Science." Founded in 1863 by ‘men of vision’ in order to provide a haven for those people who had professional or amateur relationships with the Arts, Literature or Sciences, it has provided this hospitality and friendship ever since.
The third, fourth and fifth floors of the 18th-Century Georgian period property are home to 16 intimate rooms and suites available to members and their friends. The interiors are dressed with bespoke Portuguese furniture and lined in velvet and cashmere wall panels, the rooms are just as elegant and fashionable as one could hope for.
‘The Arts Club’ London
The third, fourth and fifth floors of the 18th-century Georgian period property are home to 16 intimate rooms and suites available to members and their friends. The interiors are dressed with bespoke Portuguese furniture and lined in velvet and cashmere wall panels, the rooms are just as elegant and fashionable as hoped for.
The Arts Club was a hub of the arts during the 19th Century and, although a social venue, it was known to be a place where influence could be exerted and careers developed. It was seen as the powerhouse behind the dealings of the Royal Academy. In the course of its existence the Club has included amongst its members many outstanding figures in the history of art, literature and science: writers such as Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins and Thomas Hughes; musicians such as Paolo Tosti, Charles Halle and Franz Liszt; artists such as Frederic Leighton, Walter Sickert, John Everett Millais, Auguste Rodin and James McNeill Whistler, as well as an array of pre-eminent surgeons, solicitors and professionals.
The History
Throughout the interior The Club has introduced Art Deco elements making it so very glamorous, in keeping with what is happening with the rest of the Club on the lower floors. Elongated, wrap-around headboards, floor parquetry and decorative ironwork detailing captures 1920s sophistication in a positively 21st Century manner. Palettes are fresh – perfect for the intimate spaces of a London Georgian property – and light is maximized, even where it seems impossible, through the lighting design of skylights and window walls.
Smart interior design details like the high-gloss cabinetry and shapely chairs, accessorised with custom accents from Arca and Giobagnara, subtly remind guests that this is not your average Club. In September 2011, the Club re-launched after undergoing a complete interior design renovation, transforming it into a truly venerable institution. The principal areas of interest amongst the current members are: art, architecture, fashion, film, literature, music, performance, photography, science, theatre and media.
The Guest Stays
The Arts Club, proudly continues to be a hub for creative and entrepreneurial patrons to come together to meet, exchange ideas, dine and participate in the varied events and the Club has reclaimed its place at the heart of contemporary cultural life in London. Leo’s is hidden away on the lower ground floor of the Club. An elegant and sophisticated Supper club and Nightclub, created by Dimore Studio and inspired by the interior architecture of the 1950s and 60s Riviera Clubs. The rooms remain appropriately tranquil retreats, an upper extension to the already magnificent Members-Only Club.
With just 16 bedrooms and suites, this is one of the smallest hotels in central London and arguably the most exclusive. These comprise of one Penthouse with roof terrace, three Suites, two Junior Suites, six Deluxe Rooms and four Superior Rooms on the third, fourth and fifth floors.
Guestrooms
When arriving through the hotel-room door, it is the matched-marble tiles that first capture your eyes. Walk deeper into the chamber, dark-mahogany American walnut panels on the floor playfully balance wooden frames from the full-length mirrors in the hall.
Cashmere throws on the oversized beds ooze comfort, while the over-sized headboards ensure that the bed is the centrepiece of the room. Opaque brown juxtaposes the light-cream, white and light pink walls. A traditional black dial phone is perched on the bedside cabinet; as it is the little attention to detail that remind one of the Club’s location.
Scale-like marble slabs on the floor of the bathroom echo the same dove-grey that is seen in the foyer. At the centre, a majestic freestanding traditionally made cast iron tub is on show, contrasting the soft white marble walls. Contemporary touches have been carefully given with a subtle TV screen conveniently placed at the foot-end of the bath. The Arts Club suites include furnishings in the manner of iconic designers in Europe, such as Jacques Adnet, Gio Ponti, Finn Juhl, Piero Fornasetti and Hans Wegner.
The emphasis is on craftsmanship and quality finishes, such as specially embossed leather headboards, eglomise mirror panels and hand-tufted rugs. David d’Almada of the London interior design house Sagrada commented, “We wanted to capture elements of the style of European glamour and elegance which were so prevalent in the first half of the 20th Century.”
In the penthouse two armchairs sit on top of the teal and cream rug at the foot of the over-sized bed. The main room is clean, light and breathes freely. White walls provide a blank canvas, while a large brass side-adjustable mirror behind the bed carries colour around the room. The bathroom’s dark wooden cabinetry blends well into the marble floor and walls. The deep bath is silver and stands on four legs, next to the glazed window. Natural lighting floods through the large panelled windows into the room and balances appropriately to create a soft ambiance. Outside, the private terrace is large and secluded. Cream-leather sofas and outside chairs are delicately framed with dark wood. An outside dining table for six is perched at one end, while the lounge area is at the other. The rhythmic hums of city life resonate in this area but guests are kept hidden within the terrace’s tiled banisters.
The Art Collection
The Club’s art collection remains at its very core, highlighting international trends, as well as maintaining a focus on British-based artists. Amelie von Wedel, the Club’s art advisor and curator, has chosen the pieces to include a combination of site-specific installations and carefully selected acquisitions. The permanent collection includes work by Tomas Saraceno, John Baldessari and John Stezaker, which sit alongside both the Club's historic collection and a series of temporary exhibitions which change throughout the year. The vision for The Arts Clubs’ collection stems, in many ways, from its history. When the Club was founded by such luminaries as Charles Dickens and Anthony Trollope, with members including Auguste Rodin and James Whistler, it was a place where writers, artists and intellectuals met to discuss the cutting-edge ideas of their time. The contemporary art world is animated by voices from around the globe and the Club is building an international collection and exhibition programme that reflects these diverse voices and provides a space for the new ideas of this generation to thrive.
Watch the full documentary of The Arts Club …. Here
