Roosevelt Bar / Night Club

The existing building was a double story art deco piece on the corner of Bree and Bloem St. It was pretty run down but had elements of old world splendor underneath drywalling. The existing building belonged to world renowned architect Gawie Fagan but was left in a state of early decay.

I liked the patina and instead of covering it up with plaster to try make it look new I emphasized the decay and made it a feature. I designed the bar display structure like a wave using Oak veneer with Tom Dixon chrome pendant light fixtures. The bar counters were made from solid, raw Kiaat.

The ceiling was raw concrete which I sealed and left as is with a chandelier made up of various different sizes of Tom Dixon chrome lights. The parquet flooring was brought back to life and a 20m custom real leather banquet seating was fitted along a curved wall. I used Bose sound in this lower section of the club with all traces of wiring hidden for a super clean look.

The color pallet was natural wood and concrete. Shades of brown leather, natural patina combined with low lighting to create a warm lounge experience with super high quality sound. Organic modern retro was the basis of my design ethos for this space.

Going upstairs was a carpeted staircase with a feature wall lit photo installation of a Karoo desert landscape which gave the stairwell a 3rd dimension and opened it up. Copper Tom Dixon lights illuminated the transition between the two spaces.

The upstairs was a full nightclub environment tying in the hues of downstairs with plush carpeting around a wooden sprung dance floor. Subtle ambient lighting and mirror balls created a James Bond (in the 70’s) villains opulent liar experience. Bose systems were used all round.

I created a leather banqueted VIP section with bottle service and a balcony/patio for smoking. The same curved wave bar display was used upstairs as well. Music/DJ selection was of utmost importance at The Roosevelt and way ahead of its time for the club scene of Cape Town. I focused of original good music mixing 70’s, 80’s, disco, funk, soul and easy listening mash ups to deep house. I kept the downstairs very lounge-y, unpretentious and inviting to warm patrons up for the club experience of the upstairs section