Part of the Mori Arts Centre, the Roppongi Hills Club is a private dining club occupying the 51st floor of the main commercial tower at Roppongi Hills. The 5,000sqm facility comprises a series of individual hospitality spaces including five bars, nine restaurants, private dining rooms, conference rooms and a banqueting suite, all with spectacular views over Tokyo .

At the heart of the design concept is an orbital corridor linking all of the spaces. Derived from the curvilinear floor plan of the building, the meandering route provides new vistas at every turn, with slits in the walls allowing glimpses into adjacent spaces, and wider openings at the entrance to each. All the restaurants and bars are arranged to maximize city views, while the ‘back of house’ spaces are located towards the centre of the plan. Orbital patterns also feature on the club’s menus – designed by Conran & Partners, as part of its graphics brief for the project.

The club is divided into two primary zones, for ‘work’ and ‘play’, expressed by choice of materials – more ‘corporate’ for the meeting rooms and library, brighter and more informal in the crustacea restaurant and rooms for private parties. In a parallel theme, spaces are also characterised as ‘light’ and dark. The 51 Club is dominated by a glossy black and purple bar. In contrast the Arts Centre Club, for visitors to the Mori Art Museum on the floors above, is an airy expanse of polished concrete. Mediating between these zones, the orbital route itself is purposely restrained, with walls and ceiling in polished grey plaster and stone flooring which changes tonally from dark to light.