The bar-club is located where the balcony of the "Lumen" used to be: this former Lausanne cinema opened in 1908 then became the “ABC” in 1935. It was, at one time, one of the largest screens in Europe. In 1998, the cinema became the D! club, where the clubbing area took up the two spatial sections: the stalls and the balcony.

In 2012, the architects sas architecture and the client developed a "club within the club" concept for the balcony, separate from the D! club. They designed an intimate area both "rock attitude" and chic. The balcony's original volumes were made visible again and magnified, retaining the possibility of reverting to the original immense volume for specific events. The client's wish was for extreme flexibility of use and a very striking identity.

The architects played with the building's historic features as well as with its facetted geometry. They introduced reflection effects to splinter the existing space. The existing bar element was extended and tiled with tinted mirrors. It therefore became an impressive shining element connecting the full height of the former entry area with the former balcony.

Decor and lighting were developed with decorator Alexandre Boyer who repeatedly made reference to the cinema: Merry-Go-Round planes chasing each other 5 meters up in the air, tables recovered from former cabaret "La Belle Époque"; 2 colossal light fixtures from Le Havre, Normandy shipyards; velvet drapes; cinema seats; Ladies' decorated with "Dolce Vita" paparazzi paraphernalia; and a "Closer" movie atmosphere in the Gents'.

+ Project facts

Architects: sas specific architectural solutions
Decoration collaborator: Alexandre Boyer
Graphic collaborator: Audrey Dubussy
Civil engineer: Kälin & Rombolotto Ingénieurs
Photographer: Lionel Henriod / mc2

www.dclub.ch, www.sas-architecture.com

Joao Morgado shared with us his recent photography of a Night Club Eskada Porto designed by AAMD.

Drawing on themes from luxury, glamorous and trendy blends Eskada Club Porto stands for an invigorating atmosphere. Thought from a range of differently design rooms, each with its own special feature it has achieved a unique environment out of the mix between past, present and future.

In the buildings restoration, materials were carefully chosen to guaranty comfort and innovative design. Retaining the original features and characteristics of its stunning façade and blending them with modern European design, it stands out for an exclusive club in the nightlife of North’s Portugal region.

Original elements, such as the nude stone, architraves and coving have been restored and contrasted with modern, custom designed furniture, brushed and polished copper steel finishes and natural colors.

The light design trends for an exceptional visual experience. Through its minimalist elegance and implicity, it leads to a stimulating and refrained exuberance.

The result, taking the notions of reason and passion as a source, is a creation blending intimacy and community, function and fantasy, art and design, resonating in this modern definition of luxury.

+ About AAMD

AAMD is an architectural practice based in Porto, Portugal, and it’s by now responsible for making Portuguese people happier, glamorous and trendy, as it has created more than a dozen of the hottest clubs around this country.

We take fun a serious matter and clubs an expertise theme. Creating the latest trends in architectural plans and customizing furniture and lighting decoration AAMD have always stretched, and will continue to stretch, the professional boundaries to achieve the highest enjoyment.

Entertainment and well-being have emerged as the luxuries of our age, scarce and precious. In AAMD we are devoted to impose it upon our lives. In defining our own spaces we create our own manifestation of luxury.

Rejecting the trappings of traditional prestige and embracing the new luxuries of time and freedom AAMD will extend the limits of the nightlife.

Listen, AAMD has now been challenged to make Brazilian people happier in an already congenial social scene, can it be possible?

+ All images courtesy Joao Morgado