Several metres beneath Sydney's CBD, the final touches are being added to both a red-hued nightclub and a '70s-inspired rock 'n' roll bar, complete with a vintage jukebox and intimate tables flanked by private drinks cabinets. Hutch Bar and Arcade's yet-to-be-titled underground nightclub are the final elements of a new four-storey venue bringing fresh life to a heritage-listed former bank building – and though these subterrenean spaces are still in construction phase, there's a caverous bar upsairs already welcoming guests.
On the ground floor of 16 O'Connell Street, you'll find the Gatsby-coded cocktail bar, where the debaucherous dens growing below are alluded to only by a 22-metre long velvet drape that obscures the ascending staircase. Welcome to Arcade: a very fun, very ambitious addition to Sydney’s bar scene.
Brought to life by a friends-and-family team including Mark Abraham and Alex Vukovic, Arcade is what the owners refer to as “a fun house for adults” – a creative, multi-format venue that doesn’t play by the rules. Enter through the heritage-listed brass doors that open onto O’Connell Street, and you’ll find yourself in a towering, marble-trimmed cocktail bar. Cast your gaze upwards, and you'll see that the 14-metre-high ceiling is bathed in spectacular projections designed by the very same people who illuminate the Sydney Opera House every year during Vivid.
Sydney-based architecture firm Steel and Stitch were tasked with transforming the space (formerly The Carter). While the ground level follows a tried-and-tested formula – tan leather booths, musky-mirrored walls, and a statement brass-trimmed bar in the centre – the other floors promise two bespoke spaces that will round out the offering to make Arcade a unicorn of a venue.
“It’s been so much fun seeing the ideas come to life – we’ll go to the Steel and Stitch office every week and there’s always a new corner of the space that’s about to be transformed. We want every corner to be interesting, because it’s such a unique space, it deserves that attention,” explains Vel Vooks, the marketing and events manager at Arcade.
On Level -2, Hutch Bar will play host to the venue's most rowdy late-night happenings: with a vintage jukebox playing a rockin' soundtrack, and “hutches” at each table stocked with drinks ready for interactive table-side service. One floor above, the deep red night club will transform from “lounge” to party room depending on the day, with Vooks explaining the team's vision for immersive dining experiences with Vivid-style light shows projected across all four walls.
“We’ve got space for ten tables of 12 down there, and we just think it will be so much fun to offer something different – we just need to decide what to do in terms of projections, we could take people anywhere,” he tells Time Out.
For now though, settle into a booth on the ground floor and let the team order for you. The drinks list (curated by Nathan Alan Jones from Drinks By Design) ranges from house-made lager to a smoked Old Fashioned where the woodchip is fired with a blowtorch before your eyes. But if you’re a purist, the Martinis are an excellent bet. On the food front, start with a plate of oysters, round it out with mini crab sandwiches or karaage chicken with wasabi mayo, and finish with Fireball-spiked tiramisu.
There’s live music most nights, spanning jazz to disco to EDM. Vooks explains: “We don’t want to stick to just one type of music or one type of event, we want to offer something different every time so people to come here and forget about what’s going on outside, even if that’s just for an hour.”
This is just the start for Arcade, with the two underground venues set to open later in August and September. Though the future is more ambitious, the ground floor cocktail bar (and adjoining mezanine space) is good place to start – and it’s open now.
You can follow Arcade on Instagram for updates over here.
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