Hidden treasures: the world of underground luxury supercar garages

Car enthusiasts are often obsessive collectors, not conscionable successful the database of machines they ain but each sorts of accessories and tools. So it was possibly lone earthy that ultra-luxury collectors would yet absorption connected the spot wherever those cars are stored: the garage.

No, not a inexpensive pre-fab with a azygous airy bulb; instead, a ‘gallery space’ successful which they tin show their centrifugal (more apt motors), possibly with a lounge area, a bar, possibly adjacent a turntable that rises and falls truthful they and their friends tin respect their latest wheels from each angles.

Right now, 8 car enthusiasts determination successful the satellite are enjoying their car collections with their own, adjacent much ambitious and awesome assemblage spaces, some supra and beneath the ground.

They’re clients of London-based designer Jonathan Clark and a part of his architecture signifier Garage Deluxe, a concern helium launched 4 years agone with the purpose of combining his passions of cars and architecture.

“Ever since boyhood trips with my begetter to the Earl’s Court centrifugal show, I’ve been funny successful cars,” explains Clark. “Today, successful summation to my mundane cars, a Porsche Macan and a Porsche 911 4S Cabriolet, I person an Alfa Romeo Spider 3.2 and a Ferrari 575 Superamerica. I similar cars and I recognize wherefore different radical similar them.”

Throughout, of course, he’s had a surviving to earn, which is wherever the architecture comes in. Earlier successful his career, Clark was progressive successful large projects that included the Lord’s Cricket Ground media centre and the National Portrait Gallery extension.

However, it was his enactment designing carnal payment centres that opened his eyes to the benefits of specialising.

“Bars, restaurants, schools, offices: I’ve designed them all,” helium says. “But with the carnal centres, I discovered determination was a marketplace for niche projects. I thought my perfect niche task would beryllium thing to bash with cars and soon realised astir luxury garages are one-off projects. I decided to specialise successful them.”

The aboriginal days of his caller concern were spent gathering car and automobilia collectors, furnishings designers and radical successful the assistance and turntable industries who could assistance him realise his astir ambitious ideas.

However, gathering clients wasn’t truthful straightforward. “Our clients are radical good beneath the radar,” says Clark. “We don’t find them, they find us, and having done so, they importune connected implicit discretion.”

Given the values of their collections, that’s nary surprise. Years ago, erstwhile cars were little valuable, it was good for a collector to enactment them successful an aged barn oregon garage. But present they’re worthy overmuch more, truthful affluent owners are keen to store them decently and show them securely.

“If you person a Monet, you’re not going to bent it successful a cold, damp country retired of the way,” says Clark. “You privation to bent it wherever it tin beryllium admired and wherever it’s safe.

The aforesaid applies to invaluable classics and supercars. You tin store them successful secure, off-site locations with different cars, but what’s the constituent successful that? You can’t spot them oregon bask them readily and neither tin your friends.”

Clark is presently overseeing six projects, with a further 2 successful the pipeline. One of the company’s 2 UK builds is underground and has country for up to 100 cars.

Another underground project, successful Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has abstraction for 50. However, it’s not the fig of cars that tin beryllium accommodated but however they’re displayed and the situation successful which they’re displayed that matters much to clients.

Clark says: “I’ve been to galore collections wherever the cars are displayed successful a elemental abstraction with a array and chairs. They look similar showrooms. Instead, astatine 1 of our projects, the lawsuit enters a ample country with a barroom and eating country overlooking 2 cars mounted connected turntables that emergence and fall; the remainder of the postulation is down a sliding screen. The thought is helium curates the display, changing it astatine intervals, truthful 1 week it’s reddish sports cars, different it’s supercars and truthful on.”

For a assemblage abstraction successful Spain, the lawsuit has requested a cigar barroom and a gaming area. “It’s similar an underground gentleman’s club,” says Clark. “We’re utilizing materials including rough-cast factual but clad successful brushed leather truthful helium can’t harm his cars erstwhile helium moves them.”

Clark’s task successful Abu Dhabi is really a store for a institution that prepares and races Mercedes 300 SLs. In summation to mechanical, bodyshop and overgarment bays, determination volition beryllium a lawsuit area.

“Classic cars are becoming precise fashionable successful the UAE,” says Clark. “Few radical determination announcement if you’re driving the latest supercar, but they announcement if you’re driving an old, sought-after classic.”

For backstage clients, the company’s luxury creations are much than conscionable garages. “Our spaces are for not lone the cars but besides our clients to unbend and entertain,” explains Clark.

“We person tons of contacts successful the automobilia and plan worlds who tin proviso beauteous overmuch immoderate is requested. One lawsuit wanted his seats upholstered precisely similar those successful his Ferrari Daytona. Another provided his ain partition art: the motor from his Porsche that had blown up.”

Design_North, an interior plan signifier successful Newcastle, is different UK steadfast that’s progressive successful the luxury store world. Its director, Scott Stewart, is simply a car enthusiast who recovered himself designing a store interior for a lawsuit with a postulation of hypercars. The occupation got him reasoning astir creating a luxury store brand.

“I settled connected the sanction Hypercave, with the purpose of it becoming a recognisable marque truthful radical mightiness sanction it successful the aforesaid enactment arsenic immoderate apical label,” helium explains. He created immoderate plan concepts, posted them connected Instagram and waited…

“Very soon I had my archetypal lawsuit for a occupation we’ve conscionable completed,” says Stewart. “We telephone it Hypercave 01; they volition each beryllium numbered. The lawsuit is based successful the UK and has a workplace producing renewable energy. Naturally, he’s into electric cars, and helium asked america to person immoderate of his outbuildings into a Hypercave for his Tesla Cybertruck and Tesla Roadster. It’s a futuristic-looking abstraction inspired by the sci-fi movie Tron and is precise brightly lit utilizing the farm’s renewable vigor stored successful a Tesla Powerwall. Universal Pictures person seen images and person expressed an involvement successful filming wrong it.”

The aforesaid lawsuit commissioned Hypercave 02 for his postulation of Land Rover Defenders. In keeping with the vehicle’s image, the abstraction uses earthy materials and is darker and little dramatic, similar a woodland canopy.

Both ‘garages’ diagnostic a salient Hypercave logo. Meanwhile, Stewart’s absorption is connected 3 caller and adjacent much ambitious Hypercave projects: 2 successful Dubai, some underground and different successful Jeddah.

His and Clark’s Garage Deluxe creations aren’t cheap, but past neither are the cars stored successful them. And they'll surely look bully successful their caller homes.