Late last year, famed members-only club Soho House announced it was finally ready to open a chapter in Sydney after abandoning its original designs for a Melbourne venue. Darlinghurst was the target but an actual location hadn’t really been confirmed until just this week, with the team behind Soho House Sydney announcing that they’ve secured a building on the corner of Crown and Foley Street.
Soho House Sydney will be located just above pioneering small bar Shady Pines Saloon with designs on completely changing the building with a $24 million investment that’ll bring in a restaurant, bar, gym, cabaret facilities, a rooftop terrace with a pool and accommodation.
Of course, this will all need to be viable for the inevitable invite-only parties that Soho House Sydney will be throwing for its members, aligning with the same reputation of ultra-premium exclusivity that has been built through Soho House venues in cities like New York, London, Paris, Mexico, and Hong Kong.
The building, which currently has a very run-down exterior, will need extensive work before it’s elevated to the standard Soho House is known for. Exterior changes are part of the redevelopment plans, likely bringing in a simple modern cream and brown design to align with other Soho House venues around the world.
It doesn’t look like Swillhouse will need to move their long-standing bar either. Soho House’s plans include an allocated zone for tenancy on the basement floor of the building, so the bar’s many fans need not worry.
Soho House Sydney has already been making its presence known around the city over the past few months. At the tail-end of last year, the brand threw an exclusive party at Paddington’s Oxford House and earlier this week Soho House partnered with Porsche Australia for an event at swanky new Surry Hills restaurant Amorica hosted by Australian fashion designer Michael Lo Sordo.
With SXSW coming to Sydney in October and Soho House hitting the city sometime this year, the harbour city really is shaping up to be legitimised as one of the world’s greatest places for the creative industries.
Soho House Sydney has not yet publicly confirmed how much membership will cost but applications are now open.
