Designed by Austrian-born Australian architect Harry Seidler, the Club's current home sits within a prominent harbour location on Jackson Road. The illustrious private members' club, established in 1846 and renowned for its exclusivity, has been housed within Seidler's only building in Hong Kong since 1984. 

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EM&C was commissioned by Purcell to design the members' cafe was designed within a former retail space on the building's ground floor, transforming the unused space into a new food and beverage outlet whilst relieving capacity pressure on other on other ventures with the club's talented team of chefs, which focused on the implementation of the feature front-of-house kitchen. 
Delivering a fresh, clean, and elegant design to showcase and complement the café's exceptional food offer was imperative to the design solution: a distinctly European feel, with a selection of Italian sweet treats, pastries, cheeses, and house coffee blends being served, offers members a chic, yet casual, dining environment. 

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Soft curves echo through the space, with the circular ring light enveloping the café's central banquette, mirrored at ceiling level and drawing guests to the café's centre. Freestanding stables around the central rounded banquette complement the building's curved façade whilst guaranteeing sufficient space and privacy between tables, also allowing for generous circulation and improved accessibility. A herringbone timber floor pattern radiates from the centre of the room before intersecting with European marble flooring, distinguishing between the service and seating areas. 

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The expansive glass frontage allows for natural light to flood the cadé, illuminating the low floors and ceilings. With the glazing publicly visible at the street level, this posed a challenge not usually found in other club areas- privacy. A bespoke etching pattern was applied to the glass frontage to delicately distort the view within, providing the required level of seclusion whilst still allowing daylight to flood into the café. This delivers a bright, airy, and elegant feel whilst maintaining the level of privacy expected by members. 

Photography by: Kevin Mak of 1km Studio