Conversation pits

And how to create your own

Pushing and shoving your way past people in a club is a big no-no, so I don’t really understand why, at Number 90 in Hackney Wick, they put the sitting area right in the middle of the main throughway of people trying to get back to the dance floor!

fabric’s main chill out areas, which I call the bunkers. You’re basically in your own pod, which fits maybe two to three groups of people, with a proper walkthrough so you can people-watch and chat without being in the way of people moving between the rooms. Perfection!

It made me appreciate fabric London, yet again, for their ingenious hang-out bunkers. You have a proper place to rest your dancing feet, away from the main room but close enough to suss out the music AND there’s a proper bar so you don’t have to go to the main bar.

The chains make it look a bit scary but it is in a converted cold storage / meat factory, so, it tracks.

Your own private bunker at fabric

And the bunkers themselves? They’re basically conversation pits! Multi-level benches, with mood-lighting, and (relatively) soft yet sturdy furnishings where you can lounge about with your friends in between boogies. Last time I was there, I couldn’t believe it when I realised it – and made a mental note before heading back into the crowd that I must share this revelation.

I originally thought it was my mother who designed the concrete benches but it was my sister – possibly inspired by fabric’s?

Interestingly enough, my sister designed something like this for my parent’s spot at the beach in California. Concrete benches with a soft cushion on top, and the use is pretty similar – hordes of people have come to this spot to lounge, listen to the waves, chat, hang out, have fun.

Mum’s contribution ;)

And it got me thinking how we, as a people, can create our own versions of conversation pits without digging down a few feet into our living rooms or shelling out thousands and thousands for a Paulin Paulin Paulin Dune sofa.

Off I went to do some image research and got side-tracked by these gorgeous blue sunken living rooms. Not a classic conversation pit, so here’s what we can take away from these rooms:

• Don’t shy away from carpets! A good quality carpet can really invite you in.

• Large, tall lamps can help anchor the room. If you have the room to, I specifically like the placement of the lamps in the image on the left – placing them behind a sofa (but with the light source still high enough) creates a very cosy atmosphere.

• Pillows are key, and they don’t need to be particularly design-y as long as the colours look good together and they are comfortable.

• Floor pillows encourage floor sitting (and sometimes the only place you want to be after a night at fabric).

And then I saw this image. Obviously this is a very big space but it isn’t a conversation pit, nor is it a sunken living room, yet it gives the same inviting energy.

I noticed a few other things that can help create a conversation pit vibe:

• Low shelving to frame a room can help create a sunken feel. I think if you put a skinny console table between your sofa and your wall (I would go for a table that’s the same height as the sofa if you go down this route), add some flowers, some books, some soft lighting, and poof! You’ll achieve the same effect.

• This is one area where colour-drenching works really well, and even leaving the walls semi-empty will help keep the energy closer to the floor and the sofas.

• If you aren’t going for a modular sofa look, sofas and chairs arranged in a classic square with an aptly sized coffee table is a classic arrangement that will never tire.

‘Playpen’ is giving two very different connotations here, but the sentiment is the same.

You could always just go for the modular sofa and create a proper den. The main ones I can think off the top of my head are:

• The Mah Jong Sofa by Roche Bobois, arranged creatively. Note how they’re also styled with tables of the same height with large lamps.

• The Float Sofa by Ellison Studios – the chocolate brown color is particularly yummy.

• The Teddy Sofa by Omhu – my baby brother has this one and loves it.

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And for a bit of housekeeping: I’ve turned on paid subscriptions — £4/month or £40/year. Everything is still free if you’re an email subscriber, but once posts become older than two months, they will only be available to paid subscribers.

I will soon start posting paid subscriber-only content – think city guides and shopping guides. If this were one of those posts, I’d be linking directly to products and pieces I’ve tracked down. I love sharing imagery and my thoughts around it, but the deeper dive and the sourcing – that’s the sort of content I pay other Substack writers for, so I figure it’s fair to do the same here.

The free version of Dreamspaces the Newsletter as it has been will not change – the paid version will just have more!

Thank you all for being here.

Isabelle, just a working girl from London :)