City Gate House was mid-refurbishment, stripped back to concrete, steel and scaffolding. The brief was to host 50 of the City’s leading agents on site and give them a reason to see the building differently, before the work was finished rather than after.

Rather than hide the construction, we leaned into it. The concept set the raw, industrial bones of the building against the glamour and excess of the Roaring Twenties: exposed structure and work lights on one side, white linen, crystal and champagne on the other. Industrial and refined at the same time.

Guests arrived to canapés before sitting down to a three-course dinner of oysters, lobster and wagyu steak, with champagne flowing and a bar built around the classics, Negronis and Old Fashioneds made properly.

The entertainment came from the site itself. The Workman, a 1920s-inspired construction troupe, turned ladders, oil drums and building materials into a stage, delivering live vocals, tap and acrobatics in the middle of the room. It felt less like a show dropped into a venue and more like the building had come to life.

Serving fine dining inside a live construction site took more planning than it looked. Safety coordination, access and service flow all had to work around a building that was still very much a work in progress. On the night, none of that showed. What guests saw was a building with a past worth celebrating and a future worth investing in.