Electric Shuffle Brings The Classic Game Of Shuffleboard Into The 21st Century

Situated in the heart of Canary Wharf on Cabot Square, the 9,000 sq ft venue is set over two floors and delivers a contemporary, experimental reimaging of the game and comprises 10 play spaces and two bars.

Inspired by the pioneers of electrical technology, and in particular the work of Nikola Tesla, an inventor, electrical engineer and futurist whose designs revolutionised the use of technology, the game of shuffleboard was redesigned and ‘electrified’. The interior was created with each detail resonating those references of the past and entwines them with cutting edge gaming technology to form an engaging and original, contemporary, multi-layered scheme.

The Shuffle Table

The beautifully custom designed shuffleboard tables have been completely re-envisioned to form a central focus as social hubs within the scheme. The tables feature a high gloss custom inlaid timber surface manufactured in the United States specifically for Electric Shuffle.

The materials and lighting have been carefully calibrated to not only showcase the table as a key design feature but also seamlessly integrate the gaming technology requirements.

The table design is inspired by the aesthetic of the grand Art Deco ocean liners, on which the game had its original heyday. Curvilinear forms in the timber, and decorative copper pipework reinforce this aesthetic along with inlaid copper details, leather upholstered detailing and laser cut metal elements, which bring together a mix of classic and contemporary, Art Deco and industrial influences.

The Main Bar

The main bar on the ground floor is a dramatic double height, power plant-inspired design and pays homage to both the 1940’s factory aesthetic and the early designs of electrical transmission experiments. The large central bespoke rotating light feature which dominates the centre of the double height void space at the main bar is suggestive of an electrical turbine and the copper accented fluted timber detailing creates the illusion of innumerable copper tubes conducting wiring to ‘power’ the venue.

The central light feature was developed in conjunction with specialist lighting designers to create the illusion of simultaneous clockwise & counter clockwise rotation, a movement reminiscent of mechanical cogs. The bar also features custom-designed, pylon-inspired lights suspended in the double height void.

Featuring a custom-made ceramic bull nosed top and bespoke fluted porcelain tiles, the bar front includes industrial-inspired strapping and rivet detailing and incorporates back-lit glass blocks, typical of aspects found in mid-century Bauhaus factories.

The First-floor Bar

Amron Architectural worked closely with Ellis Design Studio to offer a bespoke metal mesh creative solution for the first-floor bar. The bar features a contemporary re-interpretation of utilitarian metal factory panelling rendered in vivid electric blue, which was overlaid with Zircon 25C expanded mesh which was fabricated by Rebus Jetcut and went alongside bespoke bronze domes, in a pattern reminiscent of electrical circuitry.

The studio commissioned artisan ceramicists to create oversized decorative domed ‘rivet’ features and bespoke mid-century inspired lighting for the columns which flank the bar.

The radial first-floor wall light feature is intended as a digital re-imagination of the ground floor ‘turbine’ light feature.

A further reference to the industrial and electrical inspiration is the custom designed ‘Control Panel’ feature wall, which has been designed with ‘sound-to-light’ activation and vintage inspired buttons and dials. Along with further Zircon 25C expanded mesh being featured underneath the panel. The idea is for the venue to feel as if it’s ‘alive’ and ‘powered up’.

Matt King, Creative Metal Specialist at Amron Architectural says, “We were delighted to be asked by Ellis Design Studio to create a bespoke metal mesh solution for the first-floor bar area. Our mesh combined with the colours and other special features really brings the studio’s vision to life. A fantastic project we are proud to be a part of”.

Key elements of the lighting were custom designed by the studio. The table lighting was created to be suggestive of electrical components, and the lighting in the double height staircase space is inspired by the forms of ceramic electrical resisters.

The hand painted wall finishes on the ground floor walls evoke a sense of movement and lustre; the pattern is suggestive of patinated, rusted metals and the beauty of polychromatic swirling oil slicks. The inspiration for the walls on the first floor came from the unexpected delicate beauty of mould blooms and the faded striations of watermarks.

Alan Ellis, Managing Director at Ellis Design Studio says, “The spirit of the design has been forged from these diverse influences producing a scheme which is vibrant, contemporary, unique and electric. The fusion of these ideas manifested in a design scheme we describe as the ‘beautiful factory’. The idea is to celebrate the beauty in utility and reimagine and celebrate the industrial/Deco inspired aesthetic with a nod to the genius of Tesla”.

Each individual element of the scheme has been carefully considered by the Studio, bringing together the lustre of the Art Deco, the beautiful utility of early power station and factory design and the unexpected beauty of aged metals, whilst also paying homage to the pioneers of electrical technology and it’s transformative, modernising effect on the reinvented game of Electric Shuffle. The spirit of the design has been forged from these diverse influences producing a scheme which is vibrant, contemporary, unique and electric.

You can view the article on Inex online.