DESGRIPPES GOBÉ DESIGNS ESTATE, A SEXY, NEW MANHATTAN NIGHTCLUB

Desgrippes Gobé designs Estate, a sexy, new Manhattan nightclub

(New York, September 2003)

Estate (now renamed Avalon), a new Manhattan nightclub located at 662 Sixth Avenue at 20th Street in what was formerly a Gothic church, opens to the public in September 2003 after a full renovation and redesign. Desgrippes Gobé designed the new entrance and interior, electing to make a clear distinction throughout between the original structure and the new interior elements. The international brand image consultancy excels at projects that require holding on to existing equities while evolving those features that no longer resonate with the target audience to create environments that are fresh yet familiar.

Led by Design Director Sam O’Donahue, Desgrippes Gobe’s architecture team chose to eliminate all faux gothic references left over from the church’s earlier days as the Limelight dance club, and return as much of the structure as possible to its once iconic status. Throughout the team sought to distinguish between old and new, gothic and modern. The challenge lay in respecting the stone and stained-glass structure without allowing it to become too precious while introducing a futurist twist.
As O’Donahue explains: The interior is divided into distinct “moments” which allow clubbers to experience a range of different atmospheres and activities during a single night. Each moment corresponds to a different emotional tone: escape for a sense of peace and tranquility, seduction as a way to see and be seen, energy for dancing, fantasy for surprise, and discovery to inject an aspect of intrigue and the unknown.

The church’s long, rectangular form imposed its own layout and circulation. A sequence of large and small spaces establish alternating moments of intimacy and grandeur. Long hallways and winding staircases define clear transitions between one area and the next.

The 16,000-square-foot club is divided into three floors whose focal point is the soaring triple-height dance floor that was once the sanctuary. The ground floor includes the entrance (coat check, cashier), the dance floor and the main bar. The second floor houses various service areas that support the dance floor such as the DJ booth and accompanying lounge, a catwalk, a second smaller bar and restrooms. The third floor is entirely self-contained. There, a VIP lounge connects to a smaller dance floor and mirrored cubes that extend over the dance floor for viewing the action below. Five vertical routes located along the perimeter of the building provide access to each floor.

CREATIVE
Desgrippes Gobé began by rerouting the entrance. Now, guests pass through an exterior corridor that introduces the club atmosphere as they wait outside. An elevated floor has been lit from below to wash light up the stone walls and over the stained glass windows. This exterior hallway dramatizes the grandeur of the architecture and encourages a sense of anticipation. As O’Donahue explains, “the lit entry floor and dramatic lighting pick you up off the dirty New York streets to make guests feel special and glamorous while they wait. At the same time, the austerity and closeness of the walls is almost intimidating.”

Inside, the sleek lobby is composed of fluid, undulating curves and bold color. Cashiers are visible through an elliptical letterbox window. A dramatic metallic blue wall forms a rounded corner to meld seamlessly into the ceiling. This slick, synthetic surface contrasts with the rough-hewn stone-blocks that comprise both interior and exterior walls. A poured epoxy floor embedded with marble chips and flecks of glass glisten while subtly bringing the illuminated outdoor path inside.

A small hallway beyond the lobby is ingeniously designed to evoke a moonlit garden, the first “fantasy” moment. Thin, silver Mylar hung from the ceiling creates a shimmering nocturnal effect while fiber optics suggest the movement of foliage for an otherworldly effect.

The warm glowing surfaces and fluid, curving walls of the main dance floor serve as an enveloping beacon to draw clubbers into the space. The bar has been constructed with Panelite, translucent rice paper epoxyed to acrylic in honeycomb sheets that allow light to infuse the room and keep an often-crowded space from feeling claustrophobic. Walnut flooring and low-slung banquettes set up a rich, inviting tableaux for guests to interact.

The L-shaped bar extends into an adjoining high-ceilinged space dominated by peaked gothic arches above a small dance floor. Painted pale blue, the arches float up into the darkness. Long shelves divide a mirrored wall behind the bar to create a dramatic “library of bottles.”

Through a passage composed of Lightblocks, a translucent resin that seems to fuse light and color in a single material, one arrives in the main triple-height dance floor. This vast space is anchored at one end by a performance stage and at the other by a luminous red bar also composed of Lightblocks.

This soaring space is ringed on the second floor by a translucent poured resin catwalk. Three corners of the catwalk are anchored by one-way mirrored cubicles large enough for a small group of guests to enjoy a moment of privacy within a public space. The focal point of the catwalk is the silver DJ booth, a form of entertainment all its own. The booth has been cantilevered over the dance floor and is sufficiently large to include for a seating area and private washroom. The rear wall of the booth forms a large glass vitrine that faces onto an elevated banquette where guests hangout, converse and observe the DJ in action.

A long, narrow bar on the second floor appears carved out of aluminum foam. The silvery lightweight wall panels from Alusion have been thinly sliced to allow light from behind to filter through the open pores. Within this stark, minimal space, the 35-foot-long black stone bar has been slightly raised and lit from below to give suggest a floating monolith.

Like many of today’s bar and restaurant designs, Estate’s restrooms are destinations in their own right. “We recognized that the bathrooms should be a special, social space,” O’Donahue explains. To clarify old from new, DG’s first restored the original ceiling moldings. Next, they opened the area up to form one single space into which three canted cubes were inserted. Constructed out of Panelite, the hallway leads to a set of luminous white boxes whose gender is ambiguous. Inside, bright red walls offer an unexpected surprise. Thus, obligatory acts become moments of discovery.

The third floor lounge sits on an elevated platform tucked into the original architecture. Outlined in white light, the seating, walls and ceiling form a single, continuous upholstered surface around a luminous rear wall decorated with colored dots. A space within a space, the lounge includes low tables and stools that invite guests to linger.

Throughout the club, interiors and furniture convey a sophisticated, cosmopolitan sensibility that respects history yet employs it to highlight a variety of moods and activities. The overall design employs elegant efficiency, expressive materials and ingenious lighting to update the Estate’s quirky character and give a church in the city a whole new beginning.