Silk Oceans’ ambience brings new meaning to the word “club�

The proprietors of Oceans exploited the positive  feeling elicited by good décor to create an irresistibly beautiful ambience, writes Agnes K. Namaganda

Sometime back, Silk Oceans opened its doors to the public and the usual scramble to identify with something new on the social scene hit party lovers. This time round though, the club was not just making noise about its arrival; actually, they didn’t need to.

The place speaks for itself. Closely identifying with and giving meaning to its name, nearly all the art works and embellishments used have a connection with the sea. There’s a white stone embedded and sealed in a glass wall hanging that Abel Mujongola, a sales executive who took me around, insisted was taken from the sea.

There’s another of a fish and yet another of the different components of a ship, like ropes, rudders and pieces of wood lying on a sea bed that I did not understand at first, till Mujongola explained later. All these are placed much lower than usual – at eye level when one is seated - as the upper part of each wall is filled with 35 inch plasma screens.

The whole ensemble looks nice and is well-balanced on the wall. Different from all other Silk dance clubs like Oxygen, this one has screens that apparently show the music video of the song playing. “The carpet is blue as well to reflect the colour of the sea-water,� added Mujongola, “and the walls are painted in various shades of blue for the same reason.�

The deejay’s box in a corner to the right of the club’s entrance has two big black circular sea-like creatures carved out of stone, with jagged edges on the insides.

Adjacent to the deejay’s box is the bar area and the designer decided to add a dash of symmetry to it that is noticeable when you stand centrally infront of the bar. There are three plasma screens on the wall behind the bar, with two mirrors placed between them though a little lower. Also, there are two small boats made of high quality aluminium suspended right above the bar-table in line with the mirrors.

A sea atmosphere would be incomplete without water, thus there’s an aquarium that is the centre piece in the club because it’s the one place you’ll be quickly drawn to watch the fish swim in peace. It has artificial green plants that look almost real and a number of rocks and pebbles beautifully arranged in there. There’s another small wooden carving of a ship atop the aquarium - more sea. Also, one end of the bar table has water flowing over black stones piled about four steps high on top of each other.

Other interesting but eye-catching features were two wall hangings each with a set of typical African necklaces. I thought these were on sale and naively asked as much, expecting to get “definitely� as an answer. To my surprise, they were wall decorations.

The club also has exotic furniture - comfy settees placed around glass coffee tables and bar stools, some red and others black, placed interchangeably. The sofas are smooth black leather with visible neat white thread finishing and some smaller ones in orange and yellow shades. All these have snug throw cushions in bright colours. Mujongola says this branch of the Silk clubs is the smallest though most expensive and accommodates a maximum of 300 patrons.

It being daytime, ordinary fluorescent tubes were the only lighting, but at night, the small lights etched in the black roof and the overhanging state-of-the-art silver light bulbs coolly light up the place.

The club has a massage room where tired or drunk revellers can relax before hitting the road for home. With thick heavy-set black leather chairs and a plasma screen on the wall, an entrant does not miss out on the song playing in the club as the body gets the relieving massage. Demonstrating how it works, Mujongola sat in the chair.

“There’s always an attendant at the entrance who gives out dummy coins to insert in here,� he explains pointing at a narrow opening on the arm rest. While leaning back and with your legs inserted and held in by leather flaps, the massage chair will start to work. Entrance into the massage room is free with one coin for a five minute massage. At most, one is allowed 15 minutes for three coins.

The bathrooms are clean, and in the ladies is a plasma screen as well. In total I counted about 20 plasma screens of the same size placed all around the club.

Our nkuba kyeyos will definitely have a new place to be amazed, enjoy and boast about come December when they flock here for Christmas holidays.