Old strip joint is talk of Soho

Organic cocktails bar Lab, created by designer Paul Daly and London consultancy Ally, opened last week. The bar is housed in a former Soho strip club (DW 19 February).

Ally has designed the risqué identity for the bar and Daly the interiors. The bar features sunken seating, cages and molecular motifs on the theme of Sixties spyland. The lower floor, dedicated to conversation, features booths and conversation pits.

Ally creative director Susanna Cook says it took inspiration from the conversational theme, abbreviating the musical definition of the word “labial”, meaning “formed mainly by closing or partly closing the lips”.

The bar is the brainchild of business partners Richard Hargroves and Douglas Ankrah.