The Padel Box became the latest addition to London’s padel scene this week as the plush five-court club opened in a retrofitted Victorian warehouse in South Bermondsey.
The club’s architects have plumped for a ‘box within a box’ design, housing the bar, changing rooms, pro shop, a work room for meetings and calls, and mezzanine seated balcony area in a square-shaped area next to the front door, leading through to a cavernous hall with the courts and a central square pillar of tiered seating. There is a high-quality Bose sound system installed throughout.
Co-founder Terry Williams first became hooked on padel during regular family visits to Spain. He had spent 30 years in investment banking and was also involved in his father’s property development company. Nearly two years ago, he and brother Charlie, a former chartered accountant, decided to take the plunge into padel.
Terry described the club, which officially opened on Tuesday (28 January) as “welcoming, aspirational and social.”
He told The Padel Paper: “Padel is a place community is built and friendships are formed. We wanted people to be able to do that in a space that felt premium, aspirational and beautiful. Our location is in the heart of London, specifically in a Victorian-age warehouse, so we needed the design to stay true to where we were and what our customers were looking for.
“Our design aimed to balance the dynamic energy of the courts with relaxed social spaces, and facilitate our customers desires for a fun and sociable sporting experience in London.
“As padel is such a sociable sport, we wanted a space that would help facilitate the community building aspect. It’s always so nice to grab a coffee or a drink with a friend after doing some exercise, so we wanted to provide a really welcoming, beautiful environment for people to do that in. Same with the work room – in this scenario we felt people are trying to squeeze exercise into their hectic schedules, let’s help to make everyone’s lives easier and more convenient.”
The club will have pay-and-play and membership options and courts are booked through Playtomic. The Padel Box team already has several further projects in the pipeline.
Rebecca Morris from The Padel Box team said: “We see our competitors as not just padel clubs but the whole array of wellness facilities. We wanted to appeal to people who like to socialise and exercise and make a morning or evening of it.
“Our target demographic are people who want to spend time and money going out, but not necessarily just drinking. They want to do something alongside that. That’s tying in nicely with the growth of padel. That’s why we’ve put so much emphasis into the social element of the club. We think it’s going to be pretty special.”
