Holland Club Redevelopment

On Wednesday I had a tour of the area that used to be the Holland Club. The space is called Level 0. At the moment, extensive work is still going on, and there is much left to do. It is definitely, for all intents and purposes, a building site; you have to sign in and out and wear a high vis jacket and a hard hat.

First of all, the entire inside has been stripped down to the bare bones. The internal walls have been knocked down, the toilets removed, and the bar taken out. When you first walk in it is hard to get your head around where everything used to be. Once you’ve got your bearings you notice that the space looks quite large now. However, the area where the Holland Club used to be looks a lot smaller than you would expect.

The Project Manager explains where everything used to be and what the current plan is. He has given up his time and ensured the space is safe for us to look around, and for that I am grateful. The entire layout will be flexible allowing it to be multifunctional.

The layout that patrons of theHolland Club remember will not remain the same. The bar counter will be moved to the side that is straight in front of you as you walk in. Perhaps the largest change is that there will be a divider, which will allow for the aforementioned multifunctionality, about half way across the room. The room will be primarily an open space, however there will be the ability for the room to be divided when needed. What could be worrying about this is it being always left in just one position and so being obsolete – it would be quite an effort to always be opening and closing it. The main access point will be moved to inside the Sherfield building, and the current entrance will serve as a fire exit.

There are also extensive renovation works being done on the space in general. The windows will be double-glazed for a start; there willalso be the addition of new windows for more light. The ventilation, which used to be mechanical, is going to be upgraded.

This isn’t all that is going on. There will be new activity spaces in the basement, which can be booked by postgraduates. At the moment I couldn’t be taken down to see them as they are still being worked on extensively. The redevelopment of the Holland Club is part of a bigger project to redevelop Sherfield Level 0. Perhaps this hints that the decision was already made well before the campaign to save the Club. This could be supported by the fact that members of Properties Management and Campus (formerly Commercial) Services werefound looking around at 7am before the space had been put out to tender; they said it was to update records, which is normally done at 7am without asking anyone’s permission I assume...

I do get the sense that there are people who are working hard to make sure this is a going to be a great space that postgraduates can enjoy. They do seem to be thinking about what will be a good facility, and so it doesn’t look like it will be all doom and gloom. They stress to me that the priority is to make an attractive facility for staff and postgraduates.

It is just a shame that the Holland Club couldn’t have allowed to keep running the bar, and generally a bit more involved in the process. Saying that, the mood boards reflect that a pub feel is wanted and there has been involvement from the GSA and the Union.

Holland Club Closure

The Holland Club was, in practice, a pub on campus that postgraduates and lecturers would frequent. It had been inside Sherfield for many years. Although the only way for people who didn’t know of its existence to tell where it is was the discrete “Youngs” sign outside, which has now been removed.

Last academic year, the space that the Holland Club occupied was put out to tender after a feasibility study into the use of the space. This effectively closed the Holland Club. This caused widespread dismay and anger in the postgraduate and staff community. There was a petition started to save the Club. After bids from Imperial companies (of which the only real heavyweight is Taste Imperial, which is the catering arm of Imperial College London and run by Campus (formerly Commercial) Services) the space went to Campus Services. The Holland Club started bidding but pulled out at the second stage, hinting that the main crux of that phase was catering and not running a pub. College said that their reason was the need for extra space to meet demands as the food services could not cope with demand and that postgraduates wanted extra social space.

Holland Club now

The Holland Club was essentially a bar and not a club or society. This means that taking away its only facility could have made it no longer exist. It was self governed and run on a not-for-profit model. The Club has moved locations before, but College refused to find it space, saying it could book space like any other club. Of course they would need something that is completely different from other clubs’ booking needs (a dedicated bar area etc) as they were a club whose raison d’être was a friendly pub for staff and postgraduates to relax in. Kevin Young, the bar manager who is affectionately known as Kev, has since started a pub in Spain. The Holland Club has also been on tour, taking over various pubs in the South Kensington area.