K is for Kool Aid at a different kind of club

That old devil Piers Adam (proprietor of Hanover Grand and SW1) is at it again, reports Xenia Gregoriadis. Only now he's 33 he's grown out of strobe lighting and alcopops and wants somewhere a bit more salubrious to hang out. Welcome to his world...

WHEN ANOTHER hot and sweaty Saturday night spent wading through crowds, waving at the DJ and screaming to be heard above banging bass- lines no longer seems attractive, you know it's time to move on. So says Piers Adam, 33-year-old club owner and entrepeneur.

Having outgrown the clubbers frequenting his own venues - which include SW1 and Hanover Grand - and tired of feeling like a has-been, Adam has created the K Bar, for people like himself "who are perfectly happy to be in their twenties and thirties and don't want to feel intimidated by being too old to go to a club."

Open till 3am and discreetly situated in central Soho, the new basement bar aims to emulate a "New York Lounge Bar", where the vibe, Adam hopes, will be "louche" and "sophisticated". Seductive lighting, Moroccan rugs, mosaic floors and paintings will replace the stark decor favoured by the high- street bars, with an emphasis on space to chat, chill out and move around. Simple Italian food will be available at the bar for about pounds 15 a person, from the upstairs restaurant La Spiga. So you can relax: alcopops and plastic cups, brain-splitting strobe lights and crammed dancefloors will be a hazy memory.

With a members only (and members' guests) door policy, Adam hopes to cultivate an elite membership. "It's true there are a lot of new bars opening, but it's all in the high streets, where they're converting banks and buildings like that into bars. When you're in these bars, they're all the same - you could be anywhere. I want to tap into London's creative talent," he continues. "I want to attract people from a wide range of areas. I want people from the city, the legal field, advertising, music, fashion - all brought together with the common denominator that they want to have fun, that they're interesting and that they haven't any snobbery at all." Those excluded should take no offence. Cool, after all, is in the eye of the beholder.

The K Bar opens on 4 March, at 84-86 Wardour Street, London W1, 0171 534 3700