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News/1880/ Jan 2018

1880 Launches.

Overlooking Robertson Quay in Singapore, 1880 occupies the third floor of the building that also houses the InterContinental Hotel. The 22,000 sq ft club takes its name from the decade the quay was established. Founder Marc Nicholson and CEO Luke Jones wanted a design that would spark imagination and encourage unplanned conversations, and engaged Timothy Oulton Studio to do just that.

Tim Oulton: “When I first spoke with Marc and Luke, and learned about their ideas for upending the traditional old style members’ club, it just seemed right up our alley. I thought that we could make a contribution. Luxury is not about things, it’s about experiences, meaning and connection, and that’s what we’ve focused on in 1880.”

Timothy Oulton Studio responded to the brief with a multi-sensorial design, seeking to activate and energise the senses at every turn. Entry is through a kaleidoscope tunnel, a portal that separates the outside world from the club. Ascending the escalator, members arrive at the Rose Quartz reception desk, a 1.5 ton rock crystal mined from Madagascar.

In the lobby, the Cabinet of Curiosities is filled with curios from Tim Oulton’s personal antiques collection, while in the members’ lounge, 360 antique English teapots are contrasted against a wall of reclaimed bricks etched with Chinese motifs.

One of the club’s highlights is The Double, a casual café in the daytime, suitable for relaxing or holding a business meeting, which dramatically transforms into an intimate, seductive bar at night. As the sun goes down, a hidden, fully stocked bar shelf is lowered down from above, elegant lighting appears from the ceiling and the leather banquettes rotate to face the bar, cocooned by a sweeping silk curtain adorned with a golden dragon.

The Double perfectly exemplifies the concept of collisions that pervades the entire club – a myriad of inspiring backdrops where unlikely connections are forged.

1880 launched in December 2017 and is the latest project designed by Timothy Oulton Studio, the interiors and construction design studio of Timothy Oulton.



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