-
The western side of the bar area, with views towards the Magaliesberg, is a sophisticated spot for sundowners. -
Maggie Laubser portraits hanging against a steel mesh wallcovering look down on plush green leather booth seating and varnished aluminium chairs with a copper finish by Diesel with Moroso. -
“We wanted the bar to feel like a space where anything can happen,” says Tristan. Here, works by Skullboy and Mohau Modisakeng co-exist with Studio A’s Catwalk table and Haldane Martin’s pink Zulu Mama café chairs. -
Members pick up internal mail from brass-and-oak postboxes near the entrance, where a round rug by Marcel Wanders for Moooi is teamed with a trio of grey Nicci swivel chairs and a Henge table, both from Okha. -
In the passage, where the original coffered ceiling isuplit with LED lighting, are leather-and-steel floating benches designed by Tristan and leather-and-oak armchairs custom-designed by Guideline MNF specially for MESH Club. An abstract painting by Hannatjie van der Wat creates a focal point at the end of the passage. -
A Mondrian-inspired steel-and-oak wall unit awaiting books references the theme of intersection and strong use of lines. -
The bar counter is made of Guatemalan jade-green marble, left untreated underneath, in contrast to the polished top. -
The cinema room features a floor-to-ceiling mural by Skullboy and two LC3 sofas by Cassina. -
In one of the private meeting rooms is a table by Egg Designs with copper legs and a top of back-printed glass featuring a Jono Wood photograph of Tristan’s hands. -
The dramatic entrance area features an onyx brick floor, LED lighting and steel-clad counter designed by Studio A. -
Interior designer Tristan du Plessis of Studio A.
PHOTOS Dook PRODUCTION Annemarie WORDS Mila Crewe-Brown
A club that will see young entrepreneurs and business tycoons mingle against a backdrop of inimitable design and art has opened its doors in Joburg’s new Trumpet Building.
“Common ground for uncommon people.” This is the tagline of Joburg’s much-talked-about members-only MESH Club. It’s the first of its kind to open in the city since The Country Club Johannesburg. Membership is granted from within, beginning with a core of 100 founding members, yet it has successfully shed the veil of elitism and stuffiness attached to the private clubs of days gone by.
Intrigued? You’re not alone.
MESH Club members comprise a melting pot of young entrepreneurs seeking guidance and investment, and established business owners in search of fresh opportunities. “These two worlds want to mix, but they haven’t had the space to do so before,” says Jonathon Meyer, the club’s CEO and one of its founding partners – alongside prominent Keyes Art Mile developers Anton Taljaard and Derek White, as well as Wayne Furphy.
MESH Club features sleek hot desks, private meeting rooms, a boardroom and a concierge service for business people on the move, as well as field offices that have been rented by local businesses. There’s a gorgeous bar with west-facing windows from which to watch the sun dip after work, and cocktails inspired by some of the club’s notable artworks on the menu.
How do you create an environment that appeals to and welcomes members from different walks of life? This is where interior designer Tristan du Plessis came in.
In a word, it’s down to juxtaposition. “I was briefed to create a space that’s aspirational for someone at the beginning of an industrious career, and feels luxurious and comfortable for the individuals who’ve already made it,” he says.
That balance has been achieved through an intoxicating combination of design and art. Local design names such as Egg, Okha and Jana and Koos rub shoulders with international heavyweights like Moroso and Cassina. Balancing local with inter national, rising with risen, and luxe with industrial, Tristan has nailed the interior.
Rumours of the staggering trove of artworks on display at MESH Club are true. Thanks to the private collections of some of the partners, members are spoilt with about 40 works by some of the country’s most exciting rising and established talents. Pierneefs proliferate (one for each of the toilet cubicles, and then some), works by Maggie Laubser hang in the bar area, and Jane Alexander’s forbidding Serviceman looms near the entrance. Cecil Skotnes, Keith Alexander, Willem Boshoff , Alexis Preller… The gang’s all there.
In keeping with juxtaposition, powerhouse contemporary artists feature alongside the masters. Three arresting large-scale photographs by Mohau Modisakeng hang in the bar area, which is arguably the club’s most arresting space. It’s here that a floor-to-ceiling mural by provocative South African export Skullboy co-exists with a landscape by Pierneef. Studio A’s Catwalk table spans the distance between the two, flanked by Haldane Martin’s pink Zulu Mama chairs, their colour cued by the subtler tones in Pierneef’s dusky painting.
For a business environment to be cool and current yet maintain a high level of luxury is a feat. MESH Club manages to do just this with a nod to the economic hub’s ambitious beginnings and its new art-centric backdrop.
