WHERE URBAN HIGH-FLYERS HUDDLE
modern, urbane and decidedly arty collective.
Next to Circa Art Gallery, it’s a perfect venue for out-of-office work, or sundowners in the bar with spectacular views of the city extending to Northcliff corner. The interiors are suitably dark, in the vein of traditional membership clubs, with artworks by famous South African artists curated by Everard Read Gallery owner Mark Read, a partner in the venture.
“We have 100 founding members of the MESH Club, prominent individuals from different backgrounds but mainly they are artists, IT specialists, young creatives, entrepreneurs and angel investors,” says chief executive and founder of the MESH Club, Jonathon Meyer.
Applying for membership at MESH is not a simple matter of filling in a form and paying the fees, which are in the region of R30 000 a year, similar to the membership fees at Johannesburg, Inanda or Bryanston country clubs.
Members are recommended by existing members, or apply themselves, then they are checked out to see how they might integrate and contribute to the organic development of the club. A community manager looks at who they are, their work, their hobbies, their interests.
“The point is, we want to really know our members, to develop a relationship and facilitate meetings with other members to develop a dynamic ecosystem within the club,” says Meyer.
“At the moment we have 80 people on the waiting list, aged between 21 and 70, and some will be turned away. Never underestimate the power of turning people away.”
MESH’s tagline is “common ground for uncommon people”, which signals its leaning to creatives and entrepreneurs.
Once in, members are privvy to a space designed with networking and collaboration top of mind. There is a mix of private and collective working areas, including meeting rooms and hot-desking facilities, a screening room, lounge, a dining area featuring a harvest table spread from world-class chef Dave Higgs’s live-fire grill at Marble, (one floor above), a coffee station and bar with a view of the city’s west side.
Regular members’ events will be hosted, including wine evenings, business talks, craft classes and movie screenings. From 4pm, the main bar opens up to non-members, and its sunlit location is sure to attract people.
In every way, the new MESH Club will be as convenient and comfortable for its members as the Rand Club was for its venerable old gentlemen, with artworks of comparable stature. Alongside works by Pierneef and Maggie Laubser is art by Skullboy, Louis de Villiers (now based in New York), Hannatjie van der Wat, and Jane Alexander’s arresting sculpture, Serviceman (1994).
The drinks menu at MESH is themed on each of five major artist’s influences and background, and the cocktails are as fashionable as any in the world’s best nightspots, so even if you’re not a member, or an aspiring one, swing past MESH. Be warned though, the experience comes with prices to suit.