Scribbles: 67 Pall Mall Singapore, a club dedicated to wine.

In March, we completed one of our most exciting projects to date: 67 Pall Mall Singapore.

“Founded by wine lovers, for wine lovers” 67 Pall Mall Private Members’ Clubs bring those with an appreciation of fine wine and unique culinary experiences together in world-class settings.

Like most commercial projects, there were big challenges to overcome, all part of the design process. In this case, challenges were large in a literal sense - they came in the shape of a six-metre floor-to-ceiling Wine Tower installation in the penthouse of the Shaw Centre! Luckily, we worked with an amazingly collaborative team for this project, from the client to the contractor and all the suppliers involved. The result is a project we are incredibly proud of - let’s face it - who wouldn’t be happy designing a club dedicated to wine?

67 Pall Mall first successfully opened in 2015 with the launch of its flagship London club set in the prestigious St James district, with subsequent openings in Verbier, Switzerland and Beaune, France. In Singapore, the 15,000 sq. ft. locale boasts floor-to-ceiling windows and generous terraced balconies with panoramic views of the Orchard Road cityscape.

Home to the most extensive wine list in South-East Asia, club members can explore a 5000-bottle menu with 1000 wines by the glass, paired with an exciting repertoire of Asian cuisine inspired by Singapore’s vibrant foodie scene, in addition to signature dishes from 67 Pall Mall London’s club menu.

The starting point of the design for our team was to research the building’s heritage and revisit the colourful stories it had to tell within its walls. The club is housed in the former private residence of Shaw Organisation’s founder Tan Sri Dr Runme Shaw, who moved from Shanghai to Singapore in the 1920s to expand the family-owned film distribution business with his Brother Run Run Shaw. In its former days, the ballroom of the penthouse was said to be a vibrant entertaining space for the Shaw Brothers.

The project brief was to strike the right balance, marrying the familiarity of 67 Pall Mall in London while being sympathetic to its new South-East Asian home. Because the building is owned by the Shaw Organisation, our scheme was inspired by the rich history of their Shanghai heritage and movie-making past.

Entering the sophisticated concierge and lobby area, members are welcomed at a striking hand-carved marble maître’d desk. The bespoke piece weighs shy of just a tonne and was crafted from ‘silver cloud’ - a marble that has uncharacteristic amounts of onyx in it, creating dramatic blue-green hues that glisten under the antique crystal chandelier that hangs above.

Our team thoughtfully salvaged and repurposed various original lighting features from the Shaw family residence during the renovation. Vintage chandeliers and wall sconces were polished and reconditioned, memorabilia such as photographs, paintings, vases, and other artefacts were carefully curated and weaved into the interior scheme. Creating a sense of place, the reception and lift lobby also feature custom wallpapers by Fromental. The delicate hand-painted designs portray the vibrant flowers and fauna of Singapore’s Botanical Gardens.

In the main clubroom on the 27th floor, the interiors are a vibrant show of east-meets-west; Mayfair-inspired walnuts and leathers juxtaposed with delicately patterned wallpapers and oriental rugs. Central to the vast open plan space is a six-metre floor-to-ceiling wine tower conceptualised by Wine By Design and built by Celisus Design. Encircled by an oval-shaped bar and perfectly framed by the backdrop of Singapore’s skyline, the impressive vertical structure stores thousands of bottles stored at optimum temperature and humidity-controlled conditions.

Opposite the wine tower is the ‘whisky wall’ which proudly displays over 400 premium spirit bottles, teasing ‘The Naughty Corner’ and Whisky Bar on the floor above. Tucked away upstairs and said to be the former Penthouse’s bedroom, the space seats up to 55 guests and is the perfect setting for those seeking to settle in for a more intimate evening of savouring fine spirits.

The Whisky Bar interiors are inspired by the vibrant and cinematic colour palette of the Chinese and Malay films of the 1950's and 1960s. The dark and dapper lounge bar is decked in indulgent marbles, velvet upholstery and plush lounge furniture. The walls are adorned with regal burgundy wallpaper, a customised colour palette by de Gournay based on a floral design crafted in collaboration with the British fashion brand Erdem.

Completing the scheme, the restrooms are awash with Azul Macaubas marble and hand-crafted silk wallpapers by Fromental. Lighting features include fig leaf wall sconces by Vaughan Designs and decorative alabaster wall lights by luxury British lighting designers Collier Webb.