How’s this for a slick assignment? Slick+Designusa got hired to remake the former Slick’s Lounge in Chicago into a new nightclub. That commission, the design firm’s third for Sound-Bar Hospitality, involved more than doubling the size of an existing space in the Second City’s Goose Island neighborhood and imbuing it with what Slick+Designusa principal Rocco Laudizio describes as “modern glam rock, 2011: a space odyssey feel.”
The first step in that process involved expanding the smallish Slick’s Lounge, which had just 2,200 sq. ft. of space and 12-ft. ceilings. Added onto the front of that building was 2,500 sq. ft. of new space with 22-ft. ceilings.
Within the club’s expanded footprint, which can accommodate up to 500 patrons, Laudizio placed the dance floor in the existing building and its main bar/VIP lounge in the addition. As for creating the space’s interiors, much of that process involved painting it black, both literally and figuratively, including black gloss vinyl tile underfoot; black subway tile; black wallpaper; a black, cut-stone divider wall separating the space’s two main zones; and black couches and tables.
To provide some visual contrasts to all those dark surfaces in the bar area, Laudizio installed two main elements: a glass liquor display case that’s lit with red LEDs—a reference to the bar’s new name, Hearts—and a series of oversized glam rock-inspired images from the 1970s on the walls.
Laudizio sourced the latter images, which are each 6-ft. tall and 3-ft. wide, from Colorphonic, a Chicago firm that selected and printed the images. “I gave them some specific guidelines about the kind of images we wanted, and they came back with a selection that perfectly fit the club’s vibe,” Laudizio recalls. To give those shots some added visibility and durability, Colorphonic printed them on 3M translucent film, adhered them to tempered glass and backlit them with LEDs.
Hearts’ dance zone, meantime, features an eye-catching floor made out of 30-by-30-in. stainless steel panels. Overhead is an industrial-style lighting truss that frames the perimeter of the dance floor and is studded with pinpoint LED spotlights. Also above, over the center of the floor, hangs the requisite disco ball.
All of Hearts’ design elements work together to create an environment that Laudizio says is decidedly (and purposefully) different from Sound Bar and Y Bar, the two other Chicago nightclubs his firm has created for Sound-Bar Hospitality. “Sound Bar is a large-scale, modern dance club, while Y-Bar is a minimalistic ultra lounge,” says Laudizio. “We wanted to bring something new to the Chicago market at Hearts, and we did so by creating a space that would have a glam-rock ambiance in which everyone in it would feel like a VIP.”
The first step in that process involved expanding the smallish Slick’s Lounge, which had just 2,200 sq. ft. of space and 12-ft. ceilings. Added onto the front of that building was 2,500 sq. ft. of new space with 22-ft. ceilings.
Within the club’s expanded footprint, which can accommodate up to 500 patrons, Laudizio placed the dance floor in the existing building and its main bar/VIP lounge in the addition. As for creating the space’s interiors, much of that process involved painting it black, both literally and figuratively, including black gloss vinyl tile underfoot; black subway tile; black wallpaper; a black, cut-stone divider wall separating the space’s two main zones; and black couches and tables.
To provide some visual contrasts to all those dark surfaces in the bar area, Laudizio installed two main elements: a glass liquor display case that’s lit with red LEDs—a reference to the bar’s new name, Hearts—and a series of oversized glam rock-inspired images from the 1970s on the walls.
Laudizio sourced the latter images, which are each 6-ft. tall and 3-ft. wide, from Colorphonic, a Chicago firm that selected and printed the images. “I gave them some specific guidelines about the kind of images we wanted, and they came back with a selection that perfectly fit the club’s vibe,” Laudizio recalls. To give those shots some added visibility and durability, Colorphonic printed them on 3M translucent film, adhered them to tempered glass and backlit them with LEDs.
Hearts’ dance zone, meantime, features an eye-catching floor made out of 30-by-30-in. stainless steel panels. Overhead is an industrial-style lighting truss that frames the perimeter of the dance floor and is studded with pinpoint LED spotlights. Also above, over the center of the floor, hangs the requisite disco ball.
All of Hearts’ design elements work together to create an environment that Laudizio says is decidedly (and purposefully) different from Sound Bar and Y Bar, the two other Chicago nightclubs his firm has created for Sound-Bar Hospitality. “Sound Bar is a large-scale, modern dance club, while Y-Bar is a minimalistic ultra lounge,” says Laudizio. “We wanted to bring something new to the Chicago market at Hearts, and we did so by creating a space that would have a glam-rock ambiance in which everyone in it would feel like a VIP.”
By Matthew Hall
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