Meet STÜCK: the Dalston community hub changing how we connect

The East London venue is not quite a club, not quite a cafe, not quite a co-working hub. Writer Megan Wallace speaks to cofounder Hanny Amin about building a space that’s entirely its own. 

On an unassuming, residential street in Dalston you’ll find STÜCK: a mindful haven for those burnt-out by London’s clamorous club scene. 

Run by the team behind Klub Verboten, the beloved kink collective which has been operating between Berlin and London for the past decade, the creation of STÜCK has been informed by previous attempts to create a permanent home for community and connection. 

“Two earlier projects never made it to opening due to licensing challenges and issues with residential locations,” STÜCK cofounder Hanny Amin tells us. “But they taught us invaluable lessons about what was needed to make a space like this work. We wanted to create a space with a slower pace than nightlife, less logistics, less intoxication, and more room for connection. Somewhere people could gather not just for events, but as part of their everyday lives.”

Step inside STÜCK, a former industrial building, and you’re drawn into a space which is equally calming, sensual, and communal. At its heart is an airy central room where tough meets tactile: strips of transparent latex are used as lampshades, while the walls are lined by large breeze blocks turned into furniture topped by buttery soft, ecru leather. The area was artfully designed by Joel Jjio, one of the founders of Playbody—the London club night and design studio—as a kind of adult playground. With most club kids used to brutalist warehouses and pounding techno, the space is intended to offer something “softer and more nurturing,” Hanny says, as well as to “encourage curiosity, interaction, and human connection.”

STÜCK is unique because it’s not quite a party venue, but more of a community hub. Three days a week, it serves as a co-working space and cafe for the general public. In the evenings, there’s intentional programming spanning workshops, talks, and events, including life drawing, exhibitions, and various sex-positive gatherings. “Think of STÜCK as a third space between home, work and Berghain,” Hanny explains. 

The business model doesn’t revolve solely around events, but a membership model priced at £45 per month. “Because we don't rely on alcohol sales to sustain the business, membership plays a crucial role in keeping the space alive,” she adds. “Members help support the project while gaining access to a dedicated members' area, free access to many happenings, guest privileges for selected events, and the opportunity to help shape the culture of the space as it grows.”

This proposition is a compelling counterpoint to how ephemeral much of club culture can feel. While so many of us are attracted to nightlife for the sense of belonging it can bring—being around like-minded people, or having the freedom to express our culture, sexuality, and gender in their fullest, most embodied sense—it can be hard to carry some of that connection into other aspects of our lives. 

“You can feel deeply connected to a community on a dancefloor, but if the only place you see those people is at 4am in a loud club environment, there's a limit to how those relationships can develop,” Hanny agrees. “STÜCK gives those connections somewhere to exist beyond nightlife. For us, community isn't something that should only exist on a Saturday night. The goal is to create an ecosystem where relationships can grow in a more holistic way and become part of everyday life.”

This physical community is being cultivated at a time when the pressures on nightlife are more intense than ever, particularly in big cities where rising rent prices are contributing to closure after closure. For Hanny, it’s important to fight to keep IRL spaces alive. “The more time we spend online,” she says, “the less time we spend inhabiting real places and building real-world relationships. The result can be a strange sense of fragmentation: you’re constantly connected, but often disconnected from the people physically around you.”

So, what’s next for STÜCK? Right now the focus is on fundraising for a new aspect of the physical space. “The venue is designed with the future in mind. What people see today is only part of the vision,” Hanny explains. “The missing piece is the sauna, which we're currently fundraising for. The sauna isn’t an add-on; it's central to how we imagine the space functioning long-term. It creates another reason for people to slow down their nervous systems, connect, and return regularly.” 

If you’re looking to support STÜCK, consider becoming a member, contributing to the sauna fundraising initiative, or head down to use the cafe or attend an event. 

“STÜCK has always been a community project,” Hanny said. “We built it because we believe people need spaces like this, and its future depends on the people who want to see more places dedicated to human connection exist in the world.

Learn more about STÜCK and how you can support the project here.