A First Look Around The Latest Soho House

The latest venture from private members’ club Soho House has finally opened its doors in White City, West London. With a palm studded terrace, Palm Springs-inspired rooftop pool and bar and even an Electric cinema in the basement, as expected, it's pretty fabulous.

(Image credit: Simon Brown)

The private members’ club has long been a key hangout for the media crowd, so it’s only fitting that its latest outpost is inside the former BBC Television Centre, home of the broadcasting from 1960 to 2013 and the place the delivered everything from David Attenborough documentaries to Blue Peter and Top of the Pops.

Soho House's nineteenth venue sits inside the iconic Grade-II listed doughnut-shaped building and is thelargest Soho House to date.

There's a 24,000 square foot gym with steam room, sauna, hammam and another 17-metre swimming pool, agames room with a large billiards table, anEast-meets-West restaurant, a palm filled outdoor terrace,45 bedrooms and a second 17-metre rooftop swimming pool overlooking the city –surrounded by sun loungers and a rooftop bar.

But don't worry if aren't a member – theground floor of White City House is open to the public, home to the Electric Cinema and anall-day restaurant Allis.The building also houses a newBluebird Café, Bayley & Sage,Homeslice andPatty & Bun, all within the iconic Helios building.

Soho House design director Linda Boronkay took design cuesfrom the history of the building and its midcentury heritage,wrapping its lounge areas and hotel corridors in fluted timber walls inspired by the original BBC reception, and creating a retro-chic vibe with terrazzo flooring, period appropriate furniture and fabrics by Tibor, who once designed patterns for the BBC.

Blue banquettes and red leather chairs with brass legs emphasise the retro vibe in the members' lounge on the ninth floor, where terrazzo flooring, inset with brass, runs through the whole floor and atest-card rug pays homage to the building's heritage.

There's a large billiards table in the games room, a bar leading out onto an outdoor terrace, and an East-meets-West restaurant.

A wooden staircase leads up to the rooftop bar and pool, wherepale woods, floral 60s prints and bursts of greenery line the edge of the roof, helping to create a Palm Springs vibe.

Even the bedrooms take inspiration from the building's past, with mid-century Terrazzo tables, George Nelson lamps, modernist wooden minibars, original exposed concrete support beamsand circular patterned tiles in the bathrooms,inspired by historic BBC designs.

The supersized House Gym, the largest Soho House gym to date, sits in the basement of the Helios Building.

This space offersa bite-sized taste of the midcentury delights found elsewhere.

The cherry on the cake is theElectric Cinema, which hastwo screens, each with rows of velvet armchairs, footstalls and cashmere blankets, whiledark blue geometric carpets, velvet wallsand signage give a subtle nod to the building's heritage.