We had a fantastic response and the Autumn term is now fully booked with Club Nights, which will be happening on Saturdays and some Thursdays. We’ll be revealing more details once the nights have been fully organised and planned, but for now here’s a taste of what’s to come in the form of some hand-picked quotes from the Club Night Submission forms:

“Golf Pros and Tennis Hoes”
“80s ski-wear fancy dress/moustaches”
“The party will have a Roman/Spartan theme … Full immersion in character is strongly encouraged!”
“White/blue Bavarian decoration… Sausages… Burgers… German beer”
“IC, King’s, UCL … battle of the bands”
“Pin the part on the genatalia”
“World Championship darts in Metric (minus the world class players)”

Hopefully that should give you a tantalising taste of what’s to come! If your society wants in on the action, you’re out of luck in the Autumn term. We will be taking submissions next term for Club Nights happening in the spring, so get your thinking caps on in the meantime!

Metric

The contents of dB’s have been ripped out and replaced with tonnes of cement:

Over where the main stage will be, there is currently an enormous trench:

The trench will hold a temporary support structure that will keep the floor above held in place while the existing pillar holding up the roof is removed. Later on, the temporary support structure will be taken out and the view of the stage will be completely unobstructed.

Tucked behind the main dance area – replacing dB’s old kitchens – will be Metric’s chill out area:

At the moment, the area is very bare! But, the picture above should give you an idea of what it will be like. The chillout area will have sofas and a cosy feel, giving you the opportunity to break away from the main space in the nightclub.

FiveSixEight

Our new bar, FiveSixEight has undergone a major transformation in the last few weeks. The ceiling has been pulled down and the entire bar has been removed leaving a gaping space ready to be overhauled. You can see where the old bar used to be by looking carefully at the floor:

The Union Bar

Amongst all of this heavy duty work, The Union Bar has not been forgotten either. The Union Bar will retain its traditional pub feel and atmosphere, but we’re giving it a new lick of paint and a few other cosmetic improvements:

For more pictures from Phase 3, head to our Flickr page by clicking here.

We’ll be taking pictures of the construction sites throughout the rest of Phase 3, so keep an eye on this blog for updates and to see the new bar and nightclub taking shape!

So, here is our new logo!

We hope you like it, we do! If you want a version of the logo that you can use if you are planning to host your own night in Metric you can download them from imperialcollegeunion.org/brand.

The Summer Ball Marquee will be erected tomorrow in the Quad and  will stay up for the whole World Cup. We will have a large screen showing all the matches as well as some temporary bars selling bottles and a few beers on tap.

Over the summer period we will open the Student Activity Space on level 1 of the Union building as a bar selling a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Instead of the usual lunchtime and evening menu found in da Vinci’s, the Beit Quad BBQ will be serving from 1200 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 2100 selling a range of burgers.

As of today Becks Vier will be £2 a pint to celebrate its launch as the Union’s new house larger.

So… we are open and selling drinks over the summer peiod. Why not enjoy a beer or two in the Quad when it’s sunny?!

Hosting one of these nights will be a great way to raise the profile of your group, as well as making a little bit of money for it. It is well worth your time and effort as it can help you to promote your group to other students and help them learn more about what you do. It will give them a chance to experience something new, and for your members it will be a fantastic opportunity to put on an interesting and exciting event for others to enjoy. The theme of the event doesn’t have to be tied into your group’s core activities; it could simply be an idea you’ve had that you think others will enjoy taking part in.

Although we want as many ideas and people to take part in this process as possible, there are also some things we don’t want. We would like events people can take part in and enjoy – this is what these nights are all about. However, we don’t want events that people come along to simply for cheap alcohol and a cheap night. These nights are not bar nights or opportunities for budding nightclub promoters!

In the past there have been many successful events held by students such as Imperial Idol and Battle of the Bands. When Metric opens were looking for more events like these.

To host your night in Metric you need to head to imperialcollegeunion.org/metric. Here you will find more information on the process to get your night chosen. There are also some example events to get your creative juices flowing! Fill in a request form, complete it and then submit it. Then our newly formed Entertainments Committee will look at the requests and inform the successful applicants. A date can then be booked and planning can start.

The deadline for submissions is midnight 15 June.

When we last asked you to give us your ideas on a new name for da Vinci’s the voting results were too close to show a clear favourite, therefore we have decided to ask you for your ideas once again.

We already have a name for the new nightclub, Metric, which has proved popular with everyone. We will be introducing the new logo for Metric in the next fortnight, but in the meantime the new bar is our focus. This time we would like to hear what you think your new bar should be called and why you think your suggestions are the best.

Submit yours ideas in the comments thread below. We will be taking submissions until Friday 11 June. Along with your suggested bar names, pop down a few sentences or two about why you feel your names will suit the bar – try and convince us and your fellow students!

You can also submit your ideas by tweeting with the tag #phase3. We will then look at all your ideas after the closing date and announce a winner shortly thereafter.

The new bar will have a clean, bright and fresh feel. It will be the place for you to get a drink, meal or watch sports on the overhead projectors in a nice relaxed, spacious atmosphere.

A projected image of what the bar will look like can be seen in the picture above. Click on it for a more detailed image. This will hopefully inspire you when thinking of suitable names!

Have a look round the rest of the blog for news on the rest of the Phase 3 development including the latest news on Metric.

We are really excited to show them to you now and get your feedback. These are the first of many detailed designs that we will have over the coming months as building work ramps up on both the nightclub and the bar.

Metric

Our new nightclub Metric will inherit much of it’s look and feel from the features we have uncovered during the demolition process. The club will feature a main section with a warehouse feel. The floor and bar will be polished concrete which is not only hard wearing, but also provides an edgy, modern urban feel. The walls and ceiling will have exposed brick work and beams making the most of the space we have available. The main area also features booth seating which faces towards the dancefloor and stage.

The dancefloor in Metric will be wooden to distinguish the area from the rest of the club. The stage will be raised with a permanent DJ booth behind it. The DJ booth will be a centerpiece of Metric complete with an LED acrylic wall which can change colour and design.

Since Metric needs to be an inviting venue on non-club nights too, the bar also faces onto a lounge area which has a lower ceiling and more comfortable seating. This area is intended to be more chilled out offering an ideal area for a drink during the day or a break from the bustle of the dancefloor.

The Bar/Cafe

The still-to-be-named bar and cafe will have a very bright and fresh feel so that it serves as an ideal destination to go for a drink or meal.

The existing booth seating will be replaced with more space-efficient booths that link the walled seating with the rest of the room. The room will feature exposed brickwork behind the bar and polished wooden flooring.

The bar itself will be considerably longer than it currently is in da Vinci’s allowing for faster service. Again, the bar will be made of concrete and above the bar will also be concrete. We hope to project onto the concrete above the bar to show sports and television programmes.

Behind the bar will be new offices for the bar team as well as a new large cellar which will service all the bars across the entire venue. There will also be a new kitchen designed for quicker service both at lunchtimes and in the evenings.

Your Feedback

What we need now is your feedback and opinions on these images. This is your chance to shape your new bars and nightclub! Just add a comment below.

Clubs & Societies will bid against each other to use Metric to host parties or similar events based on whatever theme you can come up with, so let your imaginations run wild!

For instance, the Surgical Society might host a doctors, nurses and surgeons party where the student body comes dressed in scrubs with scalpels; Felix might host a feline break-dancing night where you don a waggly tail and spin around on the floor; or Sci-Fi might host a space age disco where tin-foil is the dress code. Although you could host whatever sort of night you want, not just one based on your Club or Societies’ activities!

Whatever ideas you can come up with, your Club or Society will submit them to the new Entertainments Committee, which we are in the process of electing at the moment. The Ents Committee will then vote on which proposals they think will work best in the venue and attract the most people. At the moment, we envisage Club Nights taking place fortnightly on Thursday and Saturday nights, which allows for about ten per term.

If your idea is chosen by the Ents Committee you’ll then team up with the Union to organise, promote and run the event. You’ll be able to work with the Union Entertainments Manager to choose what music, lights, props, etc you will need on the night. Likewise, you’ll be able to work with our Communications team who will help promote the event by advertising it on posters along the Walkway, in the Union term planner and on the Union website.

The aim of the initiative is to give your Club or Society greater exposure, allow your Club or Society to take home some money at the end of the night and inject some fresh ideas into the Union’s entertainments. And of course, have fun!

The Club Nights idea is still in the early stages of development – we don’t have an official name for the initiative yet! – as we are still finalising various details, but we’ll be gradually releasing more information about it throughout this term.

The first Entertainments Committee meeting is due to take place this term, once the 2010 Summer Elections have finished, which will elect the committee’s first three student members. You will be able to submit ideas to this meeting, for the very first events happening in the autumn term, once Metric has opened! After this, the Ents Committee will meet once a term to discuss ideas for even more events.

If you would like to be on the Entertainments Committee yourself, then head to the elections website where you can put yourself forward for nomination. As well as choosing which Club Nights will run in Metric next year, you’ll be able to influence the regular entertainments that happen in the Union, by giving your opinion on which genres of music should be covered at the various balls or which artists should be playing.

Please leave your comments below and let us know what you think of the idea. Feel free to share some of your Club Nights ideas below too!

http://dougal.union.ic.ac.uk/phase3/?attachment_id=136

Lookout for more pictures from dB’s on the phase 3 homepage.

They are basically looking for what is behind, under and above things around the nightclub. This is required so that we have a better idea of the building for the final designs. They are also clearing out the old furniture and unnecessary equipment until we are left with an empty shell.