Let's Club Together

Where do you work when you’ve had your fill of setting up your laptop at the kitchen table but you became a freelancer in order to avoid going to the office every day? When you’re an illustrator or an architect and your work is powered by collaboration and the sparks generated by human connections, but there’s no-one around but your newly acquired dog? Because, while there’s no denying that working from home is a privilege not a hardship – in London, around 37% of people have jobs that simply can’t be done outside their place of work – it’s also true that creativity doesn’t thrive in isolation. Ideas evolve and improve best when they’re bounced off other people and can spin off in unexpected tangents thanks to a chance encounter that you had on the stairs or grabbing a coffee – something that no amount of video calls can replicate. Which is why the new generation of members’ clubs are about to come into their own, especially those that tap into a specific need or market.

Far removed from the stuffy clubs of old and the corporate spaces designed to satisfy the City crowd, the latest crop combines flawless taste, thoughtfully tailored workspaces and inspired events programmes designed to encourage as much inter-disciplinary co-mingling as possible. So, 180 House, the Soho House group’s latest outpost on the Strand, combines cosy 1970s interiors with two floors of ultra-modern facilities like an audio and video recording suite, as well as plentiful laptop space. The Ministry in Borough, the first members’ club from the Ministry of Sound, houses hot desks, private offices and sound-proof production suites alongside a 70ft bar – and they’ll welcome your dog, too. Market Peckham offers a mix of professional, cultural and social spaces to create a unique work environment which supports a balanced lifestyle. With all the typical services you’d expect (internet, printers, showers, bike storage) and plenty that you might not (a roof garden, indoor basketball hoop and live music venue) you’re bound to find a space to suit your mood. And then there’s Bureau, the Peninsula’s new, beautifully designed, inclusive and affordable members’ club, designed specifically with creatives in mind, set to open later this summer.

Neatly seated in the heart of the brilliantly innovative and soon-to-be-opened Design District, the club stretches across two buildings – one designed by London architect firm HNNA, the other by Architecture 00 – with slick, streamlined interiors conjured using sustainable materials and unexpected textures by Roz Barr Architects. Like its counterparts across London, Bureau offers up an innovative alternative to the hot-house frenzy of the capital’s swathe of co-working spaces and the after-work-drinks-only appeal of more traditional clubs. This is a genuinely useful, practical place to work, with studios and communal, fixed and hot desking spaces alongside all the infrastructure you could need to make your project work, from state-of-the-art tech such as 3D printers, laser cutters and a printing press, to photographic, sound and post-production studios, as well as IT assistance and business support – and all set against a backdrop that’s as inspiring as you deserve.

It’s designed to gather together a powerful, buzz-generating creative community of talented, like-minded individuals who can all inspire and motivate each other. Between the thoughtfully laid-out communal spaces and the weekly, strictly tech-free members’ lunches and the rolling programme of talks and events, it’s geared up to help you make as many new connections across as wide a variety of disciplines as possible, all the better to build both new friendships and businesses. Now, doesn’t that sound more fun than working from home?