Design shines in The Club at the Ivy

The Ivy reveals design plans for a new members’ club The first visual details of London restaurant The Ivy’s forthcoming private members’ club have emerged this week, Design Week can reveal.

Located above the capital’s well-known celebrity haunt with a discreet separate entrance through a flowershop on West Street, W1, the club will be aimed at celebrity thespians, fashion cognoscenti, politicians and artists.

Rising interiors star Martin Brudnizki, who has recently turned his hand to other Caprice Holdings premises, including Scott’s and Wentworth golf club, has designed the interior of the 1020m2 space.

Brudnizki has taken inspiration from the 1920s detailing of the ground floor restaurant to inform the new club’s visual language, which will be marked out by dark wood floors, marble-topped bars and wood panelling in a nod to The Ivy’s established traditions.

Brudnizki has set out to make a bold statement on the club’s top floor, with white lacquered walls, pale modern furniture and striking modern art throughout. A centrepiece here is thought to be a 6m, low-level Martini bar, with mirrored mosaic frontage and brass-andlimestone surface.

Specially commissioned art from Damien Hirst, Sam Taylor- Wood and Sir Peter Blake, among others, will adorn the space, while an extensive library will be available for members. Contemporary glassmaker Anthony Stern has created bespoke lighting fixtures, as well as glassware.

Pete King Design has created a new logo for the club (pictured, left), with consultancy Sands Thomas collaborating on its various applications.

According to King, the fivefigure graphics project has been almost two years in development. He explains that the key consideration was to create a distinct identity for the club, but at the same time maintain visual continuity with The Ivy restaurant.

Building on this, King came up with the idea to use The Ivy restaurant’s memorable and distinctive stained glass diamond-shaped windows to form the basis for the club marque, which was done through reworking a photographic image to the point of making it a fully reproducible graphic. The Ivy restaurant logotype has been incorporated into the club marque.

Graphics for the club, King explains, had to be kept simple.

The diamond visual device has also been applied to a host of consumer touchpoints including menus, bill holders, membership packs, stationery and notepads.

GETTING IN WITH THE IN CROWD

• Members of The Club at The Ivy have to be invited and only members are permitted to see the premises

• Caprice Holdings is thought to have bought a flower shop to avoid planning complexities at the club. The entrance through a flower shop leads to a glass lift shaft and glass staircase which will bring members up to a wood-panelled reception

• Caprice Holdings, established in 1981, operates The Ivy, Le Caprice, Scott’s and Bam-Bou in London

• The company is owned by Richard Caring and is operated by chief executive Des McDonald