The NinetyThird by Qatar Airways,
The O2

The brief

When The O2 decided to bring twelve corporate suites together into a single members’ club, it set out to create something no other arena had. The NinetyThird holds 300 members, a 50 seat restaurant and a retractable walkway 70 feet above the arena floor, and it is served by three bars, each with a character of its own.

All three bars had to share one quality. They had to keep pace with a room that can go from empty to full in minutes, and still feel considered when the pace is slow.

The club is also a love letter to the arena itself. More than fifty references to its history run through the interiors, from engraved setlists of Elton John’s residency to a nod to Prince’s twenty one nights in 2007, and the bars needed to sit comfortably within that story.

Two very different nights

Our designer Charlotte Colman worked closely with AEG and Levy to design bars that perform whatever the occasion. On a show night, hundreds of members arrive at once and want a drink before the lights go down, so speed of service shapes everything.

On other nights, the same space hosts private events where the pace is gentler and presentation matters more. The bars had to be just as comfortable in that role, never looking over equipped in a quiet room or stretched in a full one.

Designing the three bars

The main bar is a long oval with a 64 square metre footprint, the centrepiece of the club and the bar that takes the full weight of a show night.

Alongside it sit a horseshoe shaped cocktail bar of 8 square metres and a crescent shaped Champagne bar of 4 square metres, each with a stainless steel underbar planned around the drinks it serves and the number of people working it.