Raising the roof! First look at Annabel’s all-weather terrace

This is an artist’s impression of the new terrace at London’s most famous A-lister nightclub, Annabel’s — complete with a retractable roof that closes in only four minutes.

The Mayfair club is moving two doors down into a Georgian townhouse and undergoing a £55 million makeover. During its 54-year history, it has welcomed guests including the Queen, Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor — as well as Kate Moss, Harry Styles, Emily Ratajkowski, Rita Ora, Jourdan Dunn and Nick Grimshaw.

The artist’s impression of the ground-floor terrace shows how it will be covered with a quick-closing 24-ton glass roof designed by Austrian firm Waagner Biro. It previously created the glass roof of the British Museum and the Reichstag Dome in Berlin.

​Annabel’s is hiring someone to analyse detailed weather reports each morning to work out when is best to have the roof open or closed. As well as the terrace, other details of the club to be revealed include a hydraulic dance floor that transforms into a stage in seconds, a round-the-clock dog-walker and an in-house ice-carver who will create differently shaped cubes for cocktails. The club, now owned by West End dining tycoon Richard Caring, is also hiring a cheese expert and a seamstress and will have a sparkling water menu as well as a late-night espresso martini trolley. There will also be a cigar shop and room run by a Havana-based master. More than 6,000 champagne flutes have been bought for the club, which will be open 22 hours a day.

Martin Brudnizki, who was behind The Ivy’s recent revamp, has designed the club’s interiors. It will open at the end of the year. Membership for under-27s will cost £250 to join with an annual subscription of £750. This rises to £500 and £1,500 a year for under-35s and £1,250 and £2,750 a year for over-35s.