GEORGES NAJJARA nightclub concept in a historic mansion in downtown Montreal. Identified by a symbol rather than a formal name, it combined a distinctive setting with the atmosphere of a private clubhouse and a community of regulars.
After Beggars Banquet, my partners and I brought our experience into a different kind of venue: Maison Lyall, a historic mansion on Bishop Street.
Where the Rialto offered one grand setting, the mansion had several rooms, each with its own character. We saw the opportunity to create a more intimate nightlife experience within the house, with different spaces for people to gather.
We brought selected furniture from the Rialto and sourced more pieces to furnish the mansion. The building’s rooms and architecture became part of the concept, giving it a character that a conventional nightclub space would not have offered.
I worked with my partners to develop the concept and turn the house into an operating nightclub. The aim was a high-end venue that felt like a place people could make their own.
We opened without a formal venue name. The identity was a triangle with an all-seeing eye, a symbol rather than a wordmark.
People began calling it the Mansion, or Le Manoir in French. Maison Lyall was the name of the building itself. The name people used for the venue grew from the place, rather than from a name we had chosen for the business.
Regulars returned night after night, and a community formed around the mansion. Its separate rooms and familiar faces gave it the feeling of a private clubhouse, even though it operated as a nightclub.
For me, the project extended what we had started at Beggars Banquet: using an unusual space to create a nightlife experience with its own identity. This time, the character came from the house, the symbol, and the people who made it their gathering place.