How One of Beirut’s Greatest Clubs Came to Life

How one of Beirut’s most iconic clubs came to life. This is the story of überhaus — How one of Beirut’s greatest clubs came to life 1
© Valentina Lola Vera

First, this is not a story about architecture & design. This story's about imagination & the unlikely places from which inspiration comes. The story of how one of Beirut’s most iconic clubs came to life. This is the story of überhaus.

November 9, 2014. Another year had passed by, & Nemer Saliba (co-founder of überhaus) was celebrating his 25th birthday at his apartment in Mar Mikhael – Beirut. A couple of hours into the night & little before the alcohol kicked in, Nader Mansour (The Wanton Bishops) came in with a birthday gift that would set in motion a series of events that embody what überhaus is today.

Unlikely; Mansour handed Saliba Pink Floyd’s “The Making of the Wall”, & Saliba was stuck on page 92. A worm-like illustration that embodied everything that he ever wanted in a club; an immersive experience that would take in club goers through a tunnel-like structure only to find themselves in a wormhole of sound & light.

Picture perfect isn’t it?

This photo was taken on April 20, 2015 in Saliba's apartment. Aside from the fact that his WiFi password is now public knowledge, on the top right corner, you'll see one of the first sketches depicting how Saliba had imagined the structure.

You’re looking at that very same sketch (red) super-imposed on the current floor plan of the venue. This isn’t überhaus' first larger than life steel structure, the structure you’re looking at is actually derived from überhaus’ summer venue; The Garten.

“The idea was to create the new structure by taking the dome’s shape from The Garten & extending it to encompass the whole venue. This also meant that the same had to be applied to the lights. We wanted to amplify the experience inside the dome, & translate across the whole club.” Saliba continues to add "as for the sound we've installed..well, that's a different story"

To go through this one, you need to get out of Saliba's apartment in Mar Mikhael & back to this past summer at The Garten.

Both Nicolas Jaar (left) & Seth Troxler (right) were booked within two weeks this past summer at The Garten. While both artists had virtually gave very similar comments about the sound in the venue, Saliba recalls Nicolas Jaar specifically saying the following during sound-check: “The sound shouldn’t come from here..”, referring to the two dimensional setup of the DJ Booth, & two stacks on either side, “You should utilize your structure for your sound.” & that's exactly what Saliba's next mission was.

Voilà! Here's What Ralph Choueiri, Beirut's exclusive Funktion One distributor, had to say about the setup: “überhaus' new Funktion One system consists of eight Evo 6 speakers and four F221 subwoofers. It is the first four-point Evo 6 system installed in the Middle East. The energy that’s driven from this monstrous system on the dance floor is a true immersive 360 sonic experience, you have to go there and feel it for yourself to understand”

Talk about a sweet spot...

The magic doesn't end there. The whole venue is literally created from empty cargo containers stacked on top of each other. Credit here goes to Ali Saleh (co-founder at überhaus) for the beautiful concept. According to Saleh, this is what went down: "The basis of the idea was to create a modular space, & with that thought, & considering the fact that a lot of venues globally have been designed by using containers, we felt as though this was our opportunity to create our own design catering to überhaus' unique identity." But it wasn't just about the look & feel of the containers, as Saleh adds "with walls made out of containers, we were able to plug in a second floor & additional storage space creating additional compartments within the venue."

Legend. With one more week to go for überhaus' winter line-up, if you haven't experienced this monster of a venue yet, be sure to catch überhaus' closing night this weekend. Who knows, maybe your next birthday present could kick off a similar pattern that would leave the city in awe once more, all it takes is a little vision & ...well...the boys from überhaus.

How One of Beirut’s Greatest Clubs Came to Life

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