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The Quay Club — A Canary Wharf members club

the quay club canary wharf private members club

The Quay Club


Middle Dock — Canary Wharf

Introduction

The Quay Club is the name given to Canary Wharf’s first private members club — due to open in early 2021.

The vision for the club is to be globally the most desirable and inspirational private members’ club for the urban professional

Adamson Associates — Executive architects

It is an offshoot from The Arts Club Mayfair. This is an expansive townhouse located at 40 Dover Street that houses the famous private members club — open since 1863!

Confusingly, The Quay Club is also the name of the luxury amenities package opening in South Quay Plaza — a 68-storey, 3-tower Berkeley homes’ development under construction nearby. This article will focus on the new private members club. For an extensive write-up on the South Quay development and the facilities there, see The Quay Club at SQP.

The arts club mayfair’s opulent bar
The Arts Club Mayfair features indulgent interiors

In recent years the club have made no secret of plans to follow rival membership clubs and begin an international expansion. This expansion initially began with two international clubs and an additional London venue:

  • Dubai
  • Los Angeles
  • Canary Wharf

This expansion is being driven by developer Gary Landesberg and the Waney family. Gary Landesberg is best known as a property developer — but he is also the chairman of The Arts Club.

Basing this new members club in Canary Wharf partly reflects the areas trend away from a solely commercial area, towards becoming an upmarket residential district in it’s own right. The building will potentially have two residential next-door neighbours, Newfoundland, and 1 Park Place.

The Quay Club location and amenities

The Quay Club occupies just under 60,000 square feet, and sits among the towering Canary Wharf skyline in Middle Dock.

The Quay Club canary wharf location

The Quay Club address:

The Quay Club, Building 1 Middle Dock, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4DD

Located opposite One and 10 Bank Street.

Expect luxury on a similar level to their other London venue:

  • The 5-storey building is planned to have restaurants and bars, alongside a wealth of amenities including a boutique gym, spa and an expansive roof terrace.
  • There will also be a selection of rooms — all which come with 24-hour butler service — for guests that wish to stay the night.

Design and construction of a floating members club

Adamson Associates supervised design and construction of the 5-storey structure, spanning 63 m along and 23 m into Middle Dock.

The renowned architects are favourites with the Canary Wharf Group, having designed 16 million square feet of construction area across the Canary Wharf estate since the 1980s.

Osaka luis vuitton flagship store designed by jun aoki architects

The exterior was designed by Jun Aoki Associates.

The Japanese architecture firm have experimented with dazzling facades before — designing the billowing Luis Vuitton flagship in Osaka.

quay club canary wharf shimmering aluminium cladding

Here The Quay Club is designed as a shimmering aluminium clad box, with the facade elements chosen to reflect the light bouncing off the Thames.

This curving cladding used to great effect and — at night in particular — light dances across the surface. In total the exterior is clad with over 6,000 square meters of coated aluminium.

While the building was estimated to be completed in late 2020 or early 2021 — now delayed to 2022 — it was actually in the pipeline for a very long time. Previously the site contained 1980s office buildings that were demolished in 2017. However, Jun Aoki Associates architects had been working on plans for the site since 2014.

Is The Quay Club actually floating?

No, technically not — although construction workers frequently were with several floating pontoons used during the construction of the building!

Within Middle Dock there were a series of marine piles — structural supports driven deep into the river bed — which were originally constructed in the 1980s for low rise office buildings.

The offices on top of these marine piles were demolished in 2017, but before construction work could begin, the strength of the original supports needed to be investigated.

After structural modelling and testing — to ensure that the piles still had the required stability for the 5-storey club building — these were determine safe and reused as a base to construct the steel framed structure on top of. In total the structure consists of just over 1600 tonnes of steel.

the quay club canary wharf under construction mid 2020
The Quay club undergoing construction in mid 2020

It was allegedly a very difficult construction process for all involved:

  1. The existing footprint of the marine piling and the ability to maximise the loads across them posed huge challenges.
  2. This is the reason for the steel construction rather than the more typical concrete and steel hybrid seen in the area — as the building needed to be both light but also have exceptional torsional strength to distribute loads evenly.

For a completing floating meal, you will have to stroll over to Wood Wharf and the imminent arrival of 1 and 5 Water Street Pavilions — interconnected floating barges.

Who owns The Quay Club?

Gary Landesberg and the Waney Family — the developers of Quay Club — are financiers and property developers specialising in leisure and hospitality.

While the names may be unfamiliar, you will almost certainly have heard of Arjun Waney’s other popular Canary Wharf venue — Roka. Collectively, the Waney family own global upmarket Japanese eateries Roka and Zuma, alongside La Petit Maison.

They are all involved in The Arts Club Mayfair, in a variety of roles from Director to Chairman — and will look to emulate the success of the brand at this new Canary Wharf venue.

How to join The Quay Club and what’s the cost?

As a sister club to the Mayfair Arts Club, membership to The Quay Club at Canary Wharf will be a strictly controlled process.

Application to The Mayfair Arts Club is not for the feint hearted — there are 24 pages of rules detailing the application steps and intricacies of membership!

Initial applications are covered by the rules highlighted:

quay club membership rules of the arts club

For new membership you need to be proposed and seconded by a member. Application with a photo is required, alongside brief introductory text — successful members will later have a guided tour.

restaurant area in The Mayfair Arts Club
The opulent interiors feature a blend of styles from across the globe

While Canary Wharf prices haven’t been officially confirmed — it is expected that The Quay Club will follow a similar pricing structure to the Mayfair operation.

There are three tiers of membership:

  1. Full membership (over 30s)
  2. Second person (a reduced price for partner or spouse)
  3. Under 30s (minimum joining age 21)

Current prices for the Arts Club in Mayfair are : £2000 Joining fees then £2500 each year for full membership. For couples wanting to join together it is a £1250 addition annually to be added for partners or spouses that live in the same address.

All fees are halved for under 30s — with £1000 in joining fees and a £1250 annual membership cost.

Accessing The Quay Club for free

If you aren’t planning on becoming a member of The Quay Club you might be thinking that you’ll never see what you are missing out on!

Actually, there will be a way to access The Quay Club for free.

There were 2 notable improvements throughout the S106 planning application for The Quay Club — overseen by Tower Hamlets council:

Environmental improvements

In the initial application it was noted that construction in Middle Dock will have environmental impacts, and that these weren’t being sufficiently mitigated.

As a result, in acceptance of the final application, The Quay Clubs developers agreed to increase their funding for environmental protections.

£800,000 will be provided for:

Water space and heritage feature improvements and enhancements in the borough

Tower Hamlets — Quay Club application

Free access for residents

The second — and non-financial — obligation for the developers revolved around public access to The Quay Club.

There is a written agreement that there should be public access to the building, at least twice a year, so that residents can enjoy the new facility without having to become members.

As part of the Canary Wharf Groups Art and Events program — free events held throughout the year — residents will be allowed access to The Quay Club during two weekends a year.