Creative studio Bompas & Parr says London’s empty financial districts could become “world-class late-night party zones” in a new report on the future of leisure.
In the report, Bompas and Parr explores the uncertain future of nightlife in response to the closure of 65 clubs in the UK in 2024 alone, at the same time as London’s business districts struggle to return to full capacity post-Covid.
According to the Night Time Industries Association, more than 3,000 after-dark venues in London have shut down since March 2020. Across the UK, three clubs are closing every week.
“This means that if things don’t change, there will be no nightclubs left in the UK by 2030,” the report says.
Bompas & Parr says it envisions a future “where financial districts in London and the world over are transformed into world-class late-night party zones”.
It adds: “By day, the city bustles with suits and stocks. By night, it’s reborn as a pulsating rave arena. With few residents to file noise complaints, organisers capitalise on the empty, echoing canyons of glass and steel.
The uncertain future of nightlife
“Empty office lobbies become sought-after DJ booths, rooftops host industry-defining light shows, and any space that isn’t locked morphs into a dancefloor to create a sprawling web of passionate chaos as capitalism and counterculture merge.”
Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, said: “This is not just about nightclubs; it’s about protecting cultural identity, jobs, and the social fabric of our towns and cities.”
As well as predictions on turning financial districts into “creative nocturnal playgrounds”, the report attempts to decipher more emerging forms of “togetherness and public leisure”.
Bompas & Parr suggests that in the future, older generations will reclaim nightlife, night outs will become more luxurious, and people will party in shared lucid dreams.
It also predicts that nightlife will shift to outside the main event, like queues and smoking areas, and that grassroots scenes will reinvent the dancefloor as a space for social change.
Images courtesy of Bompas & Parr
