Playboy Club
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James Newton Download Original
Venue spread over two floors that features a bespoke restaurant, cocktail bar, lounge, members club and a casino
The club was conceived as a split-stage experience: the ground floor is dark and mysterious, while the upper floor is light and ethereal. This is expressed on the building’s facade, where light enhances the contrast between the two levels to reflect the activity within.
On the ground floor, light changes from orange to dark red and opaque
lack folding screens cut with radial patterns of bunny heads, act like Arabic mashrabiya screens.
A perimeter curtain light alters the colour and motifs of the sheer curtain on the first floor, which range from a delicate pale lilac tint to saturated scarlet.
The main entrance is covered by a canopy featuring a pair of red lips, which only appear once light reveals them, allowing the design to remain hidden during daytime.
The smoky atmosphere of the original club is evoked through an abstract motif of tinted smoke across the floors, walls and ceilings, and animated by lighting effects which change their tone and intensity almost imperceptibly.
Data
- Begun: Nov 2010
- Completed: May 2011
- Floor area: 1,394m2
- Sector: Sports and leisure
- Procurement: JCT standard contract with contractor’s Designed Portions
- Address: 14 Old Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K 1ND, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Jestico + Whiles
- Project architect: Stefano Manuelli
- Client: Playboy Inc, London Clubs International
- Lighting consultant: INTO Lighting Design
- Main contractor: Phelan Construction
- Quantity surveyor: Emeny Turley Partnership
- Structural engineer: BWB Consulting
- Services engineer: E+M Tecnica
