Dancing in the City: turn empty office space into party areas, study suggests

Could the future of Canary Wharf lie in thumping beats and dancefloor raves? Could the City of London become a global hub of nocturnal revelry?

- Jessica Murray

With financial districts struggling to bounce back to full capacity post-Covid, and the nightlife industry facing an existential crisis, there are suggestions clubs could move into deserted office blocks at weekends.

In its annual report on the future of leisure, the creative studio Bompas & Parr said it "envisioned a future where financial districts in London and the world over are transformed into world-class late-night party zones".

"By day, the city bustles with suits and stocks. By night, it's reborn as a pulsating rave arena," the creative studio said. "With few residents to file noise complaints, organisers capitalise on the empty, echoing canyons of glass and steel. Empty office lobbies become sought-after DJ booths, rooftops host industry-defining light shows, and any space that isn't locked morphs into a dancefloor to create a web of passionate chaos as capitalism and counterculture merge."