A New Private Members’ Club for Belgravia
The proposed front hall.
Just a short walk from Hyde Park, 6 Grosvenor Place will be home to a new luxury private members’ club for Belgravia, as well as a public coffee shop on Headfort Place for the local community.
The buildings at 6 Grosvenor Place are Grade-II listed and located on the corner of Grosvenor Place, Halkin Street and Headfort Place.
The new private members’ club will be a place for socialising and business. Our target clientele is ambassadors, business people, and local Belgravia residents.
The members’ club will provide a range of different facilities for members to use, each with a distinct character. The club will provide a series of drawing rooms, lounges, a billiards room, bridge room, and dining rooms. There will be extensive co-working space and private dining and meeting rooms. The club is arranged so that members will have the luxury of space. The layout of rooms will echo the historic format, restoring key heritage aspects of the original house.
A new coffee shop will be located on the ground floor of the mews building on Headfort Place with the entrance on Halkin Street. The unattractive 1970’s façade on the rear mews will be replaced with a frontage that complements the existing historic facades on Headfort Place.
In June 2019, Westminster City Council approved the proposals for the restoration and refurbishment.
History of 6 Grosvenor Place
6 Grosvenor Place has a distinguished and celebrated history. The building was designed in 1868 by Thomas Cundy III (Surveyor for the Grosvenor Estate). In 1878, it became home to Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (Prime Minster from 1905-1908).
In 1914, the building became Princess Christian’s Hospital. During WW1 it was a convalescent home with 35 beds affiliated to the Queen Alexandra’s Military Hospital in Millbank.
After the war, The Forum Club was established at 6 Grosvenor Place. The Forum Club was a London club for women and was home to The London Centre for Women’s Institute members. It became one of the most successful ladies-only clubs of its era with over 1,600 members. It was a meeting point for many great female authors, artists, speakers, public figures and political activists. The club had a library, a members’ lounge, overnight accommodation for members and their maids, an exhibition salon, hairdressing room, billiard room, bridge room and a photographic darkroom. A buttery and a large dining room offered excellent cuisine.
Guests of honour at the club included HRH The Princess Royal, Lady Mountbatten, the Crown Prince of Norway, Mrs Anne de Vere Chamberlain and General de Gaulle. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and The Queen Mother visited the club many times. For a time, the club was home to a number of suffragettes, including Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst and Millicent Fawcett.
After the Forum Club moved to Belgrave Square, the building underwent extensive external and internal alternations for office use by the Gulf Oil Company. Once Gulf Oil left the buildings were vacant for over 20 years and were in need of major fabric and structural restoration.
Works have begun on-site to bring the buildings back to their former glory. Where possible, we seek to return the rooms to their original layout and use, while opening them up to a new set of members and their guests, providing a brilliant new amenity space for the local community.
Meet the Team
Brian Clivaz
Brian is heading up the team at BlueStar Capital Investments to deliver London’s newest, most luxurious and private, members’ club at 6 Grosvenor Place.
He is a well-known figure in the hotel and restaurant world. His career began at The Dorchester Hotel working with Anton Mosimann, whose own Club Mosimann’s has been a Belgravia stable for many years. Brian trained in Paris at L’Hôtel Plaza Athénée and L’Hôtel Meurice. He was Duty Manager at the Hyde Park Hotel and transferred to Dubai to help establish the Dubai International Hotel. He became MD of the Fourways Inn, Bermuda, and then MD of Simpson’s-in-the-Strand. He became Food & Beverage Operations Manager for The Savoy Group. He was the founding Director of Home House private members’ club and MD of Scott’s Restaurant, Mayfair. In 2005, he became MD of The Arts Club, Mayfair and oversaw its transformation into London’s most exclusive and fashionable private members’ club.
In 2016, he opened Devonshire Club, a luxury private members’ club in the City of London. He is Chairman of L’Escargot restaurant, Soho and L’Escargot-sur-Mer in Aldeburgh.
Brian is a Freeman of the City of London, Liveryman – The Worshipful Company of Cooks, Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, Fellow of the Linnean Society, former President of The Reunion des Gastronomes, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and a Fellow of the Institute of Tourism. He has been an advisor to several private London clubs including 12 Hay Hill, 50 St. James’s, the Café Royal, Trinity, Admiralty Arch, and Keeper’s House at The Royal Academy.
He will often be seen walking his lovable bulldog Doris.
Vascroft Contractors Ltd (Vascroft) offers construction, refurbishment, engineering and joinery services across a wide range of sectors. With over 43 years of experience, its portfolio spans from challenging bespoke developments to large multi-million pound refurbishment and new-build contracts. Its dedicated team has the knowledge and experience needed to ensure a smooth and successful completion to the project.
Faithful + Gould is a world-leading construction consultancy. For 6 Grosvenor Place, it is delivering project and cost management, principal designer, sustainability assessor and party wall surveyor services to help bring the renovation and fit-out to life. Its notable projects include Citigroup HQ at Canary Wharf and the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Centre in New York.
Comm Comm UK is leading the construction communications for the project. It is a specialist in planning, licensing and construction consultancy with expertise and experience of advising on and implementing consultation and communications programmes.
BDP is a major international interdisciplinary practice of architects, designers, engineers and town planners. It has significant experience in preserving and enhancing the character of buildings while making them fit for purpose in the 21st Century. Its portfolio includes projects within complex planning and heritage environments of international significance, including the Houses of Parliament, the Royal Albert Hall, the British Museum and the Royal Opera House.
Established in 2010, 1508 London is a design studio that creates exceptional spaces around the world that reflect their clients’ most refined tastes. Their designs are based on each building’s unique history, geography and architecture. Their current portfolio includes, among other projects, Chelsea Barracks, One Grosvenor Square and The Old War Office.
Turley’s specialist heritage team combine academic and practical experience to provide heritage research and advice to help us work sensitively within the historic context of 6 Grosvenor Place. It has conducted due diligence of the heritage assets and provided advice on how to understand and preserve the building’s significant historic features.