Fabric is found at 77a Charterhouse Street, London EC1. It occupies the renovated space of the Metropolitan Cold Stores. Smithfield Meat Market stands and operates from a site directly opposite and is the last of London's “great markets”.
The area's construction took place in Victorian times alongside nearby landmarks Holborn Viaduct and Fleet Valley Bridge. These projects swept away much of the villainous subculture of Victorian London, captured forever by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist. Post-World War II, whole communities migrated from the area to satellite towns.
A vacuum was left, buildings became solely used for commercial purposes and Smithfield lay deserted at weekends. In the fashion of the nearby Barbican Centre (for the study of The Arts), fabric has been acknowledged as a central component to the revitalisation of the area, which can now offer itself as one of London's best instances of 24-hour culture.
The club founded by Keith Reilly and Cameron Leslie was opened in October 1999 after years of planning.. It has three separate rooms with independent sound systems. A unique feature of the club is its vibrating floor in Room 1.
Known as a "bodysonic" dancefloor, sections of the floors are attached to 400 bass transducers emitting bass frequencies of the music being played, allowing clubbers to feel the music through bass frequencies transmitted into their skeletons via their feet.
As well as the club housing Europe's first bass-loaded ”bodysonic“ dancefloor, it currently has 5 soundsystems and 3 bars over two levels and a total area of 25,000 square feet.