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
-
In addition to brutalist buildings, Alison Smithson designed some of the most festive Christmas cards we've seenThe architect’s collection of season’s greetings is on show at the Roca London Gallery, just in time for the holidays
-
Six beautiful books to gift the watch and jewellery loverFrom an encyclopaedic love letter to watchmaking to a celebration of contemporary jewellery, these tomes are true gems
-
Inspired by a pebble, the stylish new Alma charger provides pocketable convenienceWhat if technology could quietly allay anxiety and not cause it? That’s the pitch behind new luxury accessories company Addition, starting with its new Alma wireless charger
-
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
