While Taipei’s nightlife scene has long been eclectic, private members’ clubs have always been absent from its after-hours map. Times are changing, however, with the opening of Staff Only, the first of its kind in Taiwan.
This low-key haunt is hidden within a former soy sauce factory on an unassuming street corner. Local interior and architecture firm ECRU Design Studio converted the industrial space into a mid-century-inspired hangout, layered with bold tones and textures.
Internationally sourced vintage furnishings are paired with Taiwanese home-grown design, including low-glow lighting and copperware by Tainan-based metalwork brand Undercurrent Objects. The indisputable highlight is however the central serving space, boasting a grand terrazzo burgundy bar crafted through a rarely employed grindstone technique.
With good design at the crux of its ethos, Staff Only’s team is equally on the pulse, featuring the best and brightest from Taiwan’s art, design and culinary scenes. Connor Lin heads the bar, calling on his background in science and engineering to boost traditional classics with Asian twists. In the kitchen, meanwhile, chef Theo Hsiao – formerly of Michelin-starred Taipei restaurant Mume – kicks bar snacks up a notch with the Mexican-inspired scallop aguachile and Asian-style beef tartare.
ADDRESS
No. 1-10 Shuiyuan Road
Zhongzheng
-
Messika’s fluid jewellery is given a textural twistThe Parisian brand borrows a textural finish previously reserved for high jewellery with its new collection, ‘Move Ciselé’
-
This ingenious London office expansion was built in an on-site workshopNew Wave London and Thomas-McBrien Architects make a splash with this glulam extension built in the very studio it sought to transform. Here's how they did it
-
The bespoke Jaguar E-Type GTO melds elements from every era of the classic sports carECD Automotive Design’s one-off commission caters to a client who wanted to combine the greatest hits of Jaguar’s E-Type along with modern conveniences and more power
-
Vincent Van Duysen ‘inspired by modernism’ for Molteni & C’s outdoor furniture debutMolteni & C goes alfresco with two new collections and reissued classics, bringing its signature elegance to the great outdoors
-
First look inside Centurion New York by Yabu PushelbergCenturion New York is an expansive new space for American Express’ ‘black card’ members. Its interior designers Yabu Pushelberg give us a tour
-
Is this the most beautiful office in the world?Parisian creative agency Art Recherche Industrie’s new HQ translates a 19th-century landmark into a chic open-plan office worth leaving home for
-
Designer James Shaw’s latest creation is a self-built home in east LondonJames Shaw's east London home is Filled with vintage finds and his trademark extruded plastic furniture, a compact self-built marvel
-
Taschen tantalises with new edition of Jorge Pardo’s ‘Brussels Lamps’German publishing house Taschen launches a limited-edition series of five ‘Brussels Lamps’ by Cuban-American artist Jorge Pardo
-
Edra’s outdoor furniture is an ode to the seaDesigned by long-term collaborator Jacopo Foggini, the ‘A’mare’ collection of outdoor furniture mimics shiny water, and was named 'Best Disappearing Act' at the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2023
-
Peep inside Luca Nichetto’s Pink Villa in Stockholm, part studio, part showroomWelcome to the pink house that is the new Stockholm home to Luca Nichetto's team
-
These papier-mâché lamps combine craft with sustainabilitySustainability and fine art are the driving inspirations behind ‘resolutely maximalist’ London lighting designer Rowena Morgan-Cox of Palefire
