Everything
As many of you may have heard, Soho House is coming to Sydney. Most well-travelled readers will already be familiar with the exclusive membership-only clubs dotted about the world. And if not, you’re probably well-versed in that Sex And The City season six scene where Samantha Jones pretends to be an Englishwoman named Annabelle Bronstein to get access to Soho House’s private rooftop pool in the middle of a heat wave in New York City.
So, when is Soho House coming to Sydney?
“It’s coming,” says a tight-lipped Dominique Bellas, Soho House’s Group Membership Director. “We’re super excited to say the House is official and it is coming. We’ve been trying for a while and now the opportunity is happening.”
Located at 256 Crown Street in between Darlinghurst and Surry Hills, Soho House Sydney will offer a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces for members to eat, drink, work and socialise across its five floors.
But until Soho House Sydney is built, Sydney-siders are invited to apply for a Cities Without Houses membership which enables creatives who don’t have a House in their city, to connect with other like-minded members at monthly local Soho House events. They will also have entry into Soho House locations globally when they travel—and if you travel like I do, it’s plenty bang for your buck. A Cities Without Houses membership is AUD$4,750 annually or AUD$2,285 for under 27-year-olds.
Well-versed in the 42 Houses across the world, Bellas has a few favourites: the bucolic Soho Farmhouse in the Oxfordshire countryside in the UK. Soho House Istanbul, the Carrara marble showpiece located on top of a hill that overlooks the Beyoglu neighbourhood. Soho House Mexico City, a contemporary nook tucked away in the heart of Colonia Juárez. And Soho House Rome, a stone-throw away from Roma Termini in San Lorenzo and a spot with one the best rooftops in the city. Our contributing editor, Josh Bozin, stayed at the latter—the brand’s first Italian outpost—and agrees on the magnificence of those unparalleled rooftop views that “stretch as far as the Apennine Mountains.”
“Soho House Rome opened in 2021 and still offers an unspoken sense of ‘if you know, you know’ exclusivity and is buzzing with activity most days and nights of the week,” writes Bozin. You can read his review here.
He’s right. The brand operates on a IYKYK mantra. In this spirit, we sit down with Bellas to chat about what we can expect from Soho House Sydney, how she vets the all-elusive waitlist, the membership options and if there’s a way to fast-track the approval process.
Apply for a Cities Without Houses membership now
GRAZIA: Sydney circles are very excited Soho House is coming to Sydney. Why Sydney? And why now?
Dominique Bellas: When we started Soho Houses, we spoke to a lot of members and listed a group of 40 cities that they had said ‘you really need to have a House here’ or ‘there’s a really great creative community there.’ Sydney and Melbourne were a bit of a no-brainer in the beginning because both have thriving creative communities. Why now? We’re super excited to say the House is official and it is coming. We’ve been trying for a while and now the opportunity is happening. .
GRAZIA: What are some features that will be unique to Soho House Sydney, that perhaps you won’t see/experience at other Houses around the world?
DB: Every House is super unique and different and is always inspired by the city itself and the buildings they are in—its history, its area and its members. All the artwork in the space will be unique and include Aussie-based artists. It’ll be a mix of well-known artists and up-and-coming artists—and the House will become a place for them to hang out and see their work on the walls, too. Those touches will be very unique to the Sydney House. We’re still finalising the facilities of the House and we’re working very closely with the council. We’re listening to what our members want to see. From a design perspective, there will be those classic Soho House touch-points that feel very familiar. That home away from home feeling for members.
GRAZIA: How do you think Sydney-siders will take to a members-only club?
DB: I know there are a few member clubs in Sydney already. If the response and reaction that we’ve had so far is anything to go by, I think everyone will welcome the idea with open arms. Speaking to members, the thing that most people are excited about is really having a base to connect with people who are like-minded. We will do our job well if you walked into the space and could hang out with your friends, colleagues, people you haven’t seen for ages, and meet new people. We’ve heard so many great stories of members who have met someone in the changing rooms, started chatting and they’ve started a business together, or somebody who has met their husband or their wife. Those kind of chance connections can come out when you mix people who don’t often mix together. People can tend to stay in their social circles, so the House can provide that hub where you’re meeting lots of different types of people that maybe you wouldn’t always hang out with.
GRAZIA: Can you tell me about the application process for an ‘Every Houses’ Soho House membership and how you vet the waitlist?
DB: Anyone is welcome to apply. Obviously, we are looking for people in the creative industries but you just have to go to the website and fill out a form. The strength of our membership really comes down to our members and how we’ve always modelled the membership: members recommending members. While I know a little bit about Sydney, you’re going to know far more than I do. Recommendations is something we’ve done for nearly 30 years. If you’re looking to apply, it absolutely helps if you know at least one member. In terms of how we vet them, it’s a little bit of a dark art. We do have committees and they help us go through the applications. We really think about what people are going to bring to the community. People might not realise that a lot of the events that we do really come from our members. You want somebody who is going to bring something to the party. Whether it’s something interesting that you’re working on or a way that you’re going to contribute to that community that we have in the House.
GRAZIA: How will you vet the waitlist for Sydney should a person want to apply for a ‘One House’ Sydney membership? A lot of our readers work from home and Soho House Sydney might be a space they’d like to work from.
DB: When the House opens, we will offer two types of memberships. That will be the Every Houses membership where you will have access to the 42 Houses around the world. But if you work in Sydney and don’t leave Australia too often, we will offer local memberships for Sydney as well, and the vetting process is exactly the same.
GRAZIA: Is there a way anybody can fast-track their membership approval process?
DB: We’ve been offered bribes over the years! But it’s a very fair process. There’s no special fast-track process or anything like that. It’s really based on the individual application. No one gets denied either, you might just be on the waitlist for a while.
Explore Soho House’s membership options here
GRAZIA: Twenty years ago, Samantha Jones, or should I say Annabelle Bronstein, made the Meatpacking District’s Private Members Club so famous. It was a huge draw for celebrities, and still is. Have you ever tried to replicate that notoriety with another TV series?
DB: I remember the scene with Geri Halliwell! That was a pure chance happening. The show often talked about zeitgeist-y things in New York and at the time, Soho House had just opened and it was really word-of-mouthy. It, of course, made sense for the show but it wasn’t something that we went and made happen. There’s actually been many shows that have referenced a House over the years. Theres a whole episode of The Simpson’s called “Noho House”! [Laughs]. But we’re very flattered when that happens. With New York, it’s quite special as we just celebrated 20 years of being in that city.
GRAZIA: What type of person does the ‘Cities Without Houses’ membership suit?
DB: It’s exactly the same as an Every House’s membership but it would suit somebody who travels as part of their work or life, and they also want to be part of that Soho House global community. From Australia, everywhere is a bit of a flight, so if you’re travelling, it’s like your home away from home. So, it definitely suits travellers.
GRAZIA: How did you dream up CWH?
DB: I have to give credit to [Soho House founder] Nick Jones. We’ve always had members who have been based elsewhere but have joined Soho House in London or New York just because that’s where they applied. I think Nick kept meeting people who were based in different cities and he just started to think more and more about it and came up with this idea: Cities Without Houses. He asked me to be membership director, pack a suitcase and off we went. That was seven years ago. In a way, it was like going back to the roots of Soho House because we went to lots of cities, we met lots of people, we got to know all of these cities and got to understand the different industries and lifestyle nuances. I think I did a breakfast and a walk in Sydney the other day by 8am. It’s a very early city!
