FAULT Magazine/Apartment 58 collaboration

EXTRAS

editors’ letter / title goes here

APARTMENT 58 FAULT sat down with the team behind Apartment 58, the newest member’s club to cater specifically to creative individuals.

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“If you didn’t know it existed, you wouldn’t know it was there.” That is one of the best possible endorsements for a member’s club, and it is absolutely true in the case of Apartment 58. The Apartment at 58 Poland Street is the first in what will become a whole a series of Apartments in London and other major capitals around the world. Upon first glance, Apartment 58 is occupied by nothing more than a restaurant (sushi maestros Ukai) and what appears to be office space. Only a totally unnecessary doormat at the foot of an internal staircase gives a hint of what is to come, and the deliberately kitsch, tongue-in-cheek message on the mat itself should be confirmation enough for most visitors: “You again?”

Stepping into the Apartment itself is a relief from the stress of darting through the throngs of tourists that throttle Soho at any given hour. The name and décor match perfectly: This is an apartment more than it is a club, and it is arranged just the way most of us would like. The nicelysized bar/lounge area offers exactly what Apartment 58 seeks to provide: a creative hub of like-minded people.

Meetings take place over coffee (or cocktails later in the day), and artists and self-employed creative individuals can be seen working on laptops. Some members, who hail from all over the world, are clearly there just to relax after travelling. A designer suite populated by state-ofthe-art computers straddles the area between the bar and a conference room-cum-private dining area (at which members can order food into the Apartment from conveniently placed iPads). The space has the look and feel of a well-to-do artist’s penthouse pad.

Part of Apartment 58’s success can be credited to the ethos imagined—and now enacted—by the owners, Alan Grant and Ronald Ndoro. Both were involved in the events business: Alan ran the Notting Hill Arts Club, while Ron put on events in Ibiza. As such, both men know the value placed

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on collaboration in the creative industry, and Apartment 58 is a reflection of that. Prospective members can only join if they are referred by an existing member and approved by the Apartment as a genuine creative individual. Thereafter, members can invite up to three guests at any one time to take part in events, relax or use the space as a base from which to collaborate on creative projects.

At the Poland Street branch at the time of our first visit, the emphasis was very much on live music, with open mic nights happening every Monday. The twist here is that the events are also streamed live online via the Apartment’s website. The other slight surprise for new members might have been seeing FAULT Issue 12 stars the Noisettes playing a set, or catching Johnny Depp dropping in to book the Apartment for a private gig with The Tricks. In Septemner, the focus shifted to London Fashion Week, with a different after party for a different designer every night throughout the course of the event.

It is difficult to find such a relaxed member’s club in London—especially one so well-equipped for the creative industry. That applies both in terms of networking and technology: The Poland Street Designer Suite has 3 top-ofthe-line Macs with the latest Adobe software. To encourage mutually beneficial meetings at the club, the membership application process is arranged strategically. After a referral, one of the Apartment’s team members discusses membership directly with the potential applicant before he or she is accepted. Rather than an elitist system (Apartment 58 is anything but snobbish), this process merely ensures that all the members are there because of their passion for creativity, as opposed to just looking for an exclusive uptown watering hole.

Within the next six months, Apartment 58 will launch another two Apartments in central London—one in Notting Hill and the other in Shoreditch. (The latter is expected to be three times the size of the Poland Street chapter.)

Each London Apartment will have its interiors designed exclusively by Apartment 58 designer Mia Wallenius. The aim is to eventually launch 25 Apartments worldwide in the main artistic zones of all the global fashion centres. The team expects three new apartments each in Paris and New York City within the next 15 months, with outlets in Milan, Berlin and Mumbai soon to follow. Members will be able to apply for citywide membership to access every branch in the city, with each space focusing on a different aspect of the creative community.

Early bird joining fees for the Poland Street Apartment start at just £270/year plus a £60 administering fee. (The latter, we’re told, is occasionally paid back in drinks at the bar—so play your cards right after joining!) Prices for citywide membership start at £450/year, while global membership starts at £630/year. There’s even a lifetime global membership option for the savvy traveller: a one-off payment of £3,000.

News of the Apartment is quickly spreading, mostly by word of mouth between people in the know. A couple of the FAULT team are now members, so give us a shout if you’d like to drop in for one of their already legendary Friday and Saturday night house parties. You’ll see that it’s worth every penny.

FAULT readers can contact us at info@fault-magazine.com with the subject line “Apartment 58” to receive the reference required for a successful membership application.

Fall 2012 / The Fantasy Issue 151