A grand experience

The recently opened The Arts Club Dubai offers an immersive journey through design, history and art, from one of the world’s most historic member’s clubs

- AIDAN IMANOVA

Having found a home within the triangular contemporary Foster + Partners-designed glass skyscraper, ICD Brookfield Place in Dubai International Financial Centre, the second location of the historic The Arts Club is already much more than a stone’s throw away from its 19th-century Mayfair location. Established in London in 1863, The Arts Club is something of an institution, once attracting the likes of Charles Dickens, Franz Liszt and Walter Sickert. Today, it caters to a modern clientele of artists, patrons and other like-minded individuals. Its second location in Dubai mirrors the grand ambitions of the city itself, boasting a generous 6000-square metre space set across four floors and designed by one of Milan’s most sought-after design practices, Dimorestudio, run by founders Britt Moran and Emiliano Salci.

“We have brought The Arts Club to Dubai to complement the dynamic, diverse and creative landscape that is flourishing here,” begins Ajaz Sheikh, CEO of The Arts Club Dubai. “We worked very collaboratively with Dimorestudio, which was important as they had not worked on anything of this scale and in this region before. There were many changes along the way, but we had tremendous confidence in the studio to use their sophisticated design aesthetic and historical understanding to bring our ideas to life. We were all coming from the same design direction. We chose them for that.”