Gatecrasher plots superclub empire

The first of the venues will be Discotheque, a £3m club development, set to open in Leeds’ Northern Quarter next month. The venue is part of Gatecrasher’s five-year £15m Boutique Blueprint plans to work with designers on new venues to shift the style and focus of its nightclubs.

The launch of the Discotheque ’boutique club’ represents a move by Gatecrasher away from its association with trance music and towards ‘a more chic, sophisticated and lifestyle’ oriented brand. Matt Rawlinson’s design for Discotheque replaces ‘sterile, hard warehouse finishes’ of traditional dance venues with more ‘glamorous’ finishes and intimate environments.

The venue has a capacity of 1350 people and is spread over two floors, featuring six bars, a VIP suite and an interactive lighting system. The design places a gilded dancefloor among mezzanine bars. As well as his work on the refurbishment of the original Gatecrasher One, Rawlinson has previously designed interiors for clubs Attica in London and Loaf in Manchester.

Gatecrasher is hoping that Rawlinson’s ‘plush’ design scheme and the new club’s mixture of music styles will help attract a ‘more discerning’ customer. ‘The brand has moved away from its traditional trance and harder edged roots and now plays all styles of music,’ explains Gatecrasher founder and managing director Simon Raine.

Discotheque will be the first addition to Sheffield venue Gatecrasher One. The company plans to open nine additional venues and is considering locations in cities such as: Birmingham, Brighton, Glasgow, Bristol, Liverpool, Cardiff, Newcastle and Dublin.

Matt Rawlinson Design will act as lead design consultancy on all the UK and international sites being planned by Gatecrasher.

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