Electric Shuffle Bar

The concept for Electric Shuffle is based around the idea of the ‘Beautiful Factory’. The idea is to celebrate the beauty in utility and reimagine and celebrate the industrial/Deco inspired aesthetic with a nod to the genius of electrical pioneer, Nikola Tesla.

The brief was to reimagine and ‘electrify’ the classic game of shuffleboard. In response, Ellis Design Studio created an interior which fuses a range of vintage references and entwines them with cutting edge gaming technology to form an engaging and original, contemporary, multi-layered scheme.

The main bar comprises a dramatic double height, power plant-inspired design paying homage to both the 1940’s factory aesthetic and the early designs of electrical transmission experiments of Nikola Tesla.

The large central bespoke rotating light feature which dominates the centre of the void space is suggestive of an electrical turbine and the copper accented fluted timber detailing creates the illusion of innumerable copper tubes ‘powering’ the venue.

Featuring a custom-made ceramic bull nosed top and bespoke fluted porcelain tiles, the bar front includes industrial-inspired strapping and rivet detailing and incorporates back-lit glass blocks; details typical to Bauhaus factories.

The first-floor bar features a contemporary re-interpretation of utilitarian factory panelling, rendered in vivid electric blue, which has been overlaid with embellished meshes and bespoke bronze domes, in a pattern reminiscent of electrical circuitry. The Studio commissioned artisan ceramicists to create oversized decorative domed ‘rivet’ features and bespoke mid-century inspired lighting for the columns flanking the bar.

The bespoke radial first-floor wall light feature is intended as a digital re-imagination of the ground floor mechanical ‘turbine’ light feature.

The custom designed shuffleboard tables were completely re-envisioned by the Studio to form a central focus as social hubs within the scheme. The materials and lighting were carefully calibrated to not only showcase the table as a key design feature but also seamlessly integrate the gaming technology requirements. The table design is inspired by the aesthetic of the grand Art Deco ocean liners. Curvilinear forms in the timber and decorative copper pipework reinforce this aesthetic along with inlaid copper details, leather upholstered detailing and laser cut metal elements, which bring together a mix of classic and contemporary, Art Deco and industrial.

All key elements of the lighting for the scheme were custom designed by the Studio. The table lighting was created to be suggestive of electrical components, and the lighting in the staircase space was inspired by ceramic electrical resisters. The rotating ‘turbine’ light feature to the main bar was developed in conjunction with specialist lighting designers to create the illusion of movement reminiscent of mechanical cogs. The scheme also features custom-designed, pylon-inspired lights suspended in the double height void.

The essence of the interior design is a blend of the glamour of the Art Deco period fused with the grandeur and faded elegance of early 20th century power plants.

Design: Ellis Design Studio
Photography: Clevershot