A new $25k members’ club opens in Sydney

It’s opening at just the right time, as a recovery in sentiment around tech investment that showed “green shoots” last year has turned into “absolute foliage” this year, says co-founder Cheryl Mack, the chief executive of the startup investment company Aussie Angels.

“Many investors are realising that with uncertainty, innovation thrives,” she says. “Where innovation thrives, there’s money to be made.”

The restoration project has brought plenty of uncertainty. While the co-founders have gone 5 to 10 per cent over their proposed $10 million budget, they’re confident they’ve found the right home for the community they’re creating.

In fact, they’ve named the club after one of its key architectural features – the striking columns fronting the first three levels of the 1849 stone building, designed in the Victorian Classical style by architect Henry Robertson.

“It took three months to choose a name,” says co-founder Bradley Delamare. “We said, ‘Let’s call it Seven Pillars.’ But that was a bit too much like the gin Four Pillars. So we said ‘Let’s try The Pillars.’ ”

The club has so far signed up 160 members – of an initial target of 300 – ahead of the formal opening today, with a gender split of 70-30 male-female, with more women expected to join after seeing it completed and functioning.

It’s a community, but unlike a networking group such as the international Young Presidents’ Organisation (YPO), it is very much based on the shared experience of a physical location designed to draw entrepreneurs, financiers and the people supporting them.

The membership criteria are fluid, but you’ll know it when you see it. There’s less focus on the tech world than the original pitch, but entrepreneurship is all about iteration and adjustment. And in a country such as Australia, where clubs like this are less established than overseas, the model is still working itself out.

“It’s investors, people interested in innovation – entrepreneurs in any field,” says co-founder Steve Grace, pointing out that much of their target cohort is women managing wealth for family offices.

“Someone very much at the top of their field is who we’re focusing on,” adds Rosie Cardoe, head of memberships.

It’s all about the hospitality

The first part of the building to reopen was the restaurant Eleven Barrack, a steak and seafood grill in the former banking hall on the ground floor. It was opened in February by Bentley Restaurant Group – which also operates the Sydney venues Monopole, Bentley, King Clarence and Brasserie 1930.

Already the recipient of two Good Food hats, the restaurant has seating for 100, a private dining room and bar. The interior, by designer Pascale Gomes-McNabb, includes a metallic purple column, lights draped with old parachute material and a baby grand played every night between 7pm and 9pm.

Eleven Barrack, headed by chef Brent Savage and sommelier Nick Hildebrandt, also services the catering needs of the three levels of club above it. And a former bank vault in the restaurant’s basement is a private space for The Pillars’ founding members (the first 100 to pay the annual $25,000 membership fee) to hold intimate meals, product launches or whatever.

The founding members’ hefty membership fee includes a $5000 food-and-beverage spend while general members, who pay $20,000 a year, receive $3000 in credit to use at the restaurant and club.

“It’s a hospitality offering first, restricted to a unique community that needs it,” Grace says.

Like any high-end club, the biggest challenge is managing the demands of people with high expectations. That requires a mixture of balance, tact and knowing how to say ‘No’ without being blunt.

This is the remit of Cardoe, who previously worked at the private members club 5 Hertford Street in London’s Mayfair.

“In London we welcomed dogs [into the club] and someone asked to bring their rabbit in,” she recalls. After considering how to respond they turned down the request, on the ground the dogs would be unhappy. “You can never just say no,” she says. “You’ve got to give a good reason for it.”

What lies upstairs

To the right of the restaurant, a corridor and staircase leads up to the first floor, where the yin-yang contrast of dark and light rooms is striking. The Library, a room seating 40 people, has dark walls, bookshelves and quiet tones. No phone calls are allowed in here – they have to be taken outside on the balcony.

A wall away is the Parlour, a bright, relaxed space where breakfast is served every day. The club’s reception leads through to a workspace, a 106-square-metre area that seats 70 and has three soundproof private meeting rooms.

The interior was designed by club co-founder and interior designer Emma Blomfield. Construction was by SGB Group, a builder specialising in hospitality and retail work.

Another climb up the square staircase to level 2, past an elaborate arched stained-glass window, leads to the Great Room. The jewel in the club’s crown, it stretches the full width of the building, and is twice the size of the library and parlour on the floor below. The 4.1-metre ceiling gives the space a cavernous feeling, while chandeliers and a mirror-backed bar exude a Great Gatsby vibe. There’s a separate restaurant area, the Atrium Lounge, at the back, which seats 50.

An extra-steep climb up the last stretch of staircase leads to level 3, where beauty and wellness spaces include a sauna, two ice baths and yoga/Pilates rooms, leading out onto a deck overlooking Barrack Street.

This is a floor of surprises – a hidden, 112-square-metre rear terrace that receives full sun all day has its own outdoor bar, providing another space to gather. And with no apartments nearby, there are no noise restrictions, which gives another meaning again to the term ‘club’. It’s an all-hours private party space in the middle of the Sydney CBD.

“We’re not going to upset anyone,” Grace smiles.