Flight Club Birmingham transports guests to the traditional Victorian fairground. The concept is based around the idea of the fairground penchant for a ‘trick of the eye’ and the design scheme is an exploration of the beginnings of animation and the moving image.
The 845 sqm £4m venue is set over two floors. The project involved the reimagining of a traditional pub shopfront in the context of the Flight Club aesthetic and the retention and re-staging of existing architectural features within the space.
The concept for the ground floor space was the creation of the illusion that the guest is situated within a grand fairground marquee and is looking outwards through trompe l’oeil ‘windows’ towards the surrounding English countryside.
The centre of the ground floor space is dominated by a dramatic marquee-inspired ceiling feature and bar with perimeter ‘windows’ looking outwards to reveal the surrounding village fairground.
The bar features hand painted designs which evoke the patterns found in traditional fairground games, combined with a variety of reclaimed Victorian fireplace tiles and laser cut blackened steel framework detailing. The canopy of the bar combines details found in traditional carousel canopies and includes laser cut timber and metal detailing.
The ground floor also features incredibly rare original 19th Century fairground panels salvaged from a carousel designed by the pioneer of carousel design, Frederick Savage.
These panels were re-staged with custom designed fret cut panelling & lighting. Bespoke scenic artwork was commissioned for the venue to pay homage to the design of these panels.
The lighting on the ground floor was custom designed as a homage to the pioneers of animation. The Studio created working phenakistoscope-inspired wall lights which guests can operate and view these early experiments in animation for themselves.
The design scheme for the first floor is based around the British love of equestrianism and country pursuits. The hand painted scenic artwork on the first floor bar pays homage to the works of 19th century painters J. Vincent Barber and Thomas Baker, both prominent members of the Birmingham School of Landscape Artists.
The first-floor space is centred around a ceiling feature designed as a ‘deconstructed Neo-classical’ ceiling, inspired by the designs of Architect Robert Adam. Classical motifs typically found within such a ceiling have been re-worked to reference inventions originating in Birmingham, which range from roller skates to the car horn!
The design for the carpets was bespoke made for the space and were inspired by the Victorian passion for Orientalism. These patterns were set against dense floral and geometric Victorian inspired patterns used on the surrounding furniture and upholstery.
The stairwell linking the ground and first floors of the venue became a feature in it’s own right. The theme of Victorian Orientalism found on the first floor was further explored in the choice of wallpapers for the stairwell and feature walls. The papers selected were deconstructed and customised/reconfigured by the Studio to create a completely unique, bespoke pattern.
The stairwell also features a decorative Victorian-inspired plaster alcove, with a vintage fairground dalmatian statue at its centre. The statue was envisaged as a shrine to the hallowed game of darts and is crowned with a halo of antique darts and garlands of vintage darts medals.
The staircase also features a dense collection of original grandfather clocks and vintage pieces of artwork and objects, which add a further sense of eclecticism and density to the scheme.
A dynamic mix of bespoke furniture & lighting, hand -painted scenic art and carefully curated Victoriana serve to deliver yet another unique, eclectic and visually intoxicating Flight Club experience.
