New members club Apartment 58 launches in London

London’s Soho has got itself another members club. With a difference. Located on 58 Poland Street, Apartment 58 is a high-tech home away from home concept for creatives, brought to us by the man who established The Notting Hill Arts Club and boutique bar, Cherry Jam, Members can use it as their personal pied-à-terre, let themselves in with their own key, host sample sales or launches in it and even use it as a place to pick up their mail. Founder Alan Grant has ambitious plans for the club's future. Here, we catch up with him to find out more.
What inspired the Apartment 58 concept?
When you start developing a concept you often begin by imaging an environment you'd like to work and play in. For us, that is a space you feel at home in, but is also fun and inspiring.
Why do you think there is a need for a 'creative hub' like this?
For most creatives, work is their life, not something separate. They don't want a stuffy environment to work in and they also like to socialise and bounce ideas off each other after office hours. I think people are able to be more creative and collaborative when they feel comfortable and at ease.
What do you think are the best features of Apartment 58?
The space is open plan but divided into areas. There is a meeting area and dining room with a big boardroom table but I don't see why people couldn't also have productive meetings sitting on a sofa.
How are you planning on acquiring your clientele?
By private invitation only. Friends can invite their friends to join the Apartment network.
Why did you choose Mia Wallenius for the interior design and what brief did you give for the space?
The idea was for it to look personal, like an imaginary character's London Soho apartment. Mia Wallenius was part of the creative team of the temporary Finnish restaurant and design exhibition ‘Hel Yes!’ and we really loved her vision. She doesn't just design a beautiful space, but wants to create an experience. The interior needed to be comfortable and functional but also unique and inspiring. Mia sourced us a selection of vintage furniture, made-to-measure pieces and contemporary furniture as well as lots of great special edition prints by her design brand Klaus Haapaniemi.
Are you planning to extend the concept internationally?
Three Apartments will open in London in 2012, located in the creative hubs of Soho, Notting Hill and Shoreditch. Further Apartments are scheduled to open in Paris, Milan, Berlin, New York and Mumbai by 2015, creating a global network. Mia, our creative director, and will oversee all Apartments.
Designer Mia Wallenius has filled the apartment with vintage furniture and prints from her design brand Klaus Haapaniemi
ADDRESS
58 Poland Street, W1F 7NR
44.20 7734 6611
www.apartment58.com
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Lauren Ho is the Travel Director of Wallpaper*, roaming the globe, writing extensively about luxury travel, architecture and design for both the magazine and the website. Lauren serves as the European Academy Chair for the World's 50 Best Hotels.
-
The Wallpaper* Design Issue comes with our Salone del Mobile must-sees
The May 2025 issue of Wallpaper* is on sale now, taking in Milan Design Week, the Venice Biennale, and a very stylish tea party
By Bill Prince Published
-
Aboard Gio Ponti's colourful Arlecchino train in Milan, a conversation about design with Formafantasma
The design duo boards Gio Ponti’s train bound for the latest Prada Frames symposium at Milan Design Week
By Laura May Todd Published
-
The ultimate high-performance earbuds, courtesy of McLaren and Bowers & Wilkins
The new Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 McLaren Edition continues a decade’s worth of cross-pollination between these two tech-focused British manufacturers
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Introducing Wallpaper’s new video series, The Stuff That Surrounds
In The Stuff That Surrounds, Wallpaper* explores a life through objects. First up, we go inside the eclectic Barbican flat of creative director and designer Veronica Ditting
By Anna Solomon Published
-
Tamart’s ‘Clore’ floor lamp revives a modernist lighting classic
Tamart debuts the 'Clore' floor lamp, a handblown glass design originally created in 1963 for Sir Charles Clore's London penthouse
By Ali Morris Published
-
‘It feels almost alive’: This rare Judy Kensley McKie ‘Leopard Couch’ could be yours
Designer Judy Kensley McKie’s 1983 ‘Leopard Couch’ will be auctioned at Phillips; one of her first fully realised sculptural furniture designs, it’s a zoomorphic delight
By Tianna Williams Published
-
First look: Step inside a Tatjana von Stein-designed show apartment at 60 Curzon
The Mayfair development has launched its second show apartment, imagined by interior designer du jour Tatjana von Stein. Wallpaper* gets a first look at the Art Deco-inspired space
By Anna Solomon Published
-
Find interior design inspiration at Eba’s new Marylebone showroom
Eba, a specialist in kitchen and living room design, brings its elevated interiors to London’s Marylebone
By Simon Mills Published
-
‘London: Lost Interiors’ gathers unseen imagery of some of the capital’s most spectacular homes
This new monograph is a fascinating foray into the interior life of London, charting changing tastes, emerging styles and the shifting social history of grand houses in the heart of a fast-changing city
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Anglepoise and National Trust look to Britain’s coastal landscape for a new blue lighting collection
Anglepoise and National Trust announce their third lighting collection, Neptune Blue
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Designer James Shaw’s latest creation is a self-built home in east London
James Shaw's east London home is Filled with vintage finds and his trademark extruded plastic furniture, a compact self-built marvel
By Rosa Bertoli Published