Project: BTW
Location:
Date:
The Brief:
Singapore, CBD
2011
Design & Project Management of Private Members Club. The owners wanted to create a private members, jazz and cigar bar. The property was a sub-basement underneath a public building and therefore the planning of acoustics and also segmented seating areas due to licensing of smoking areas and ventilation systems were the number one priorities.
The Project Background
The Jazz Bar project was created two years before the smoking ban came into place in Singapore and then it took three years to raise funding and licensing and property acquisition. Therefore the smoking ban was a large setback in the process. Because of this however there seemed to be a larger audience for an indoor club that could facilitate the requirement to smoke.
This required a design to be created particularly for the space available. A segmented ventilatd bar that allowed for all users to enjoy the facilities and Jazz whilst abiding by the health codes.
The Project Design
The theme of the bar was quite traditional, heavy, dark and sultry.
Bespoke bark tique cabinetry and furniture with light tan leathers and complimentary soft furnishings. An illuminated onyx feature bar would be the croning centrepiece and draw the attention and also provide a key ambient light source. A selection of Gentlemans antique cabinetry were used as focus pieces to lighten the design and offer flair in client flow areas and breakout spaces.
The moodboards provided a route of communication and relationship building during and for the client/consultant meetings. As the client was based in a different country the initial design meeetings were done via webex and conference calls with referential digital material. The moodboards were helpful in pinning dowen the client requirements so that we could channel the design and reduce the time cost to the project.
The Interior Spatial Planning
The planning of the seating and the separation of open plan bar serving area and smoking areas was a challenge. Due to budget and space available the synchronicity of the M&E defined the spatial arrangement to the larger degree.
The clients required maximum capacity for users bit without creating a large vacuous space. We created a design that required glazed system pods to be made, these were bespoke items and therefore had to be freestanding. The idea was that these pods could be moved if required. They would simply 'plug and play', if you will into the smoke extraction system. This would give the clients 2 options:
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the ability to rearrange the free seating after initial testing of space
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the option of rearanging to create seasonal layouts.
Glazing design system perspective
The Interior Spatial Planning
I designed the ventilation system below specifically for this project. It provides two clean air outflow pipes (Green side mounted jets) and a dirty air intake (Red Central). In testing this was a simply but effective circular system that allowed for the cigar smoke to be eliminated almost immediately. To keep the ambience the green clean air vents were supplied with scented oil made specifically for the club.
The scened oil was designed with consultation from myself and the outsourced company. We created an oil called 'Gentleman Jazz', this consisted of the smell of musk, leathers, spice, dark wood, jasmine and lemongrass. The scent was placed in a very simple system time release system and placed within the overhead vent. The outcome was to replace the feel and smell of the cigar lounge without having the carcinogenic smoke.
The Private booths were designed on a custom engineered steel frame. this enabled the private moveable pods to be moved around the floorspace. The custom designed ventilation system could be easily detached from the couplings and then plugged in to 8 other pre planned spaces. This provided opportunity for 4 different set layouts.
The wheels used were on central load bearing pinions therefore vertical downforce weight could be equally distibuted through the wheels.
They were constructed from 16mm steel bracketing with a central horizontal bearing bar.
For 360 degree movement the base connection plate was separate from the turning plate this laid on a secondary layer of bearings allowing for smooth movment under the metric tonage pressure. The wheels were covered in a low friction rubber to protect the floors from scratches.
Project Gallery
This was a members bar for connoisseurs of fine wines, liquor and cigars. Members were to delight in sharing tasting notes with each other, learning about new products to expand their knowledge and pleasuring their invited VIP guests to share in the products and luxury of the atmosphere. To answer these requirements posed by the client a large A big emphasis was given to the design of stock display. Much like a bespoke tailor the enjoyment was to be not only in the purchase but also the delving into the sensory experiences of the products; visual, taste and olfactory.
