Plans are being put forward to turn the building which hosted the recently closed ATIK nightclub into a live music venue, restaurant, offices, and construct a roof terrace. The club was closed on 30th June 2024 by landlords, following the shutting down of 17 other nightclubs owned by Rekom UK across the country, the company which owns the ATIK and Pryzm brands.
ATIK laid claim to being one of the most popular nightclubs in Oxford, famous for hosting the Wednesday night ‘Park End’ event. Kiss Bar, located next to ATIK in the same building, Cantay House, permanently closed down just months after in December of the same year. It had existed on the site for 23 years.
The application for this work is being made by Elwood Fund Management, a real estate fund management company, who have been preparing the plans since summer of last year. Elwood held a public consultation with local residents and councillors in September, saying the proposals were “a rare and exciting opportunity to bring life back into an underused but important building in an under-performing part of Oxford City Centre.” The plans were officially submitted to Oxford City Council on the 28th January.
Planners are also considering the possibility of building a restaurant on the ground floor, office space on the upper floors, and a roof terrace at the rear of the building. A new staircase would be installed, and part of the back of the building would be demolished.
The nightclub closed because of a disagreement with the landlord of Cantay House, who originally planned to redevelop it solely into offices. Rekom had previously told Cherwell that the landlord plans “to redevelop Cantay House into offices” and although “we offered a number of solutions to enable ATIK to remain open…all of our proposals to continue trading were rejected by the landlord.”
Several issues were addressed in the community consultation, which aimed to allay the concerns of local residents concerning the plans. These included the sound insulation of the venue, space for independent merchants, and the protection of the nearby Yellow Submarine Cafe.
The potential future of ATIK is just one of the many hopes for regeneration of the west side of Oxford city centre. Other proposed plans include Nuffield College’s development of buildings on Hythe Bridge Street, Park End Street, and Worcester Street.
