Case study

The making of Flight Club Cardiff

OUR GOAL

Each time we bring a new venue to life our goal is to learn from previous sites and push the boundaries of what we can achieve as a collective together. Whether that’s new design features, surprise and delight elements, nods to the local community we’re joining, or how we reach our target audience; the ambition is to always best what’s been done before. This relentless ambition and passion means we reach new highs and also new challenges along the way.

With Flight Club Cardiff, a spectacular city-centre venue in much need of some love and care, the goal was to transform a three storey historic building into a hub of joy, with a feature roof terrace (our largest permanent outdoor space), four bars and more logistical challenges than we’d ever experienced.

This time, we wanted to capture the entire process, to show just how much care goes into a Red Engine venue, how many teams and people share their passion and expertise to deliver the truly exceptional. So whilst the primary goal was to deliver a spectacular venue, the secondary goal was to show how and why we do this, and why a cookie-cutter venue model will never be right for a Red Engine site.

HOW DID WE DO IT?

A site with huge potential in the heart of St Mary’s Street, Flight Club Cardiff presented licensing, logistical and operational hurdles along the way.

A project years in the making, with rooftop rubble clearing, flooding challenges, licensing objections, a post pandemic era of uncertainty for the industry and one of the biggest sites we’ve ever had to design and dress, this required project management on a new scale to ensure a smooth delivery on schedule and budget.

The best way to understand and experience this is to watch the Making of Cardiff itself.

With Flight Club Cardiff, a spectacular city-centre venue in much need of some love and care, the goal was to transform a three storey historic building into a hub of joy.

WHAT WAS THE RESULT?

Our most ambitious project to date, with one of our most successful launch campaigns – resulting in 3,000 guests joining us in opening week, 24,000 visiting the Cardiff website before we officially opened, Flight Club Cardiff has firmly placed itself in the city’s heart as one of the most popular venues with record sales and customer feedback scores.

Flight Club Cardiff Bar
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