Inside fabric London: Photos, Videos and the Story of the Farringdon Club (2026)
Photos and videos from inside fabric London, the club in a Victorian cold store opposite Smithfield Market: the vibrating Room One floor, the 2016 closure, the dress code and door rules, and the next big nights.
fabric is the club under Charterhouse Street in Farringdon, dug into the Victorian cold store that once served Smithfield meat market across the road. It opened in October 1999, was voted the world’s best club by DJ Mag in 2007 and 2008, lost its licence in 2016 and came back four months later, and in 2026 it is still number 13 in the same poll. It is also one of the hardest clubs in London to see from the inside: fabric runs a zero-photo policy and stickers every phone camera at the door. This page collects the licensed photos that do exist, the films and sets recorded on its floors, and what a night there actually involves. It is the fifth part of our inside series, after inside Berghain, inside KitKatClub, inside Tresor and inside Sisyphos, and the first outside Berlin.
Why there are so few photos from inside fabric
fabric’s own FAQ puts it plainly: “We have a zero-photo policy to ensure everyone enjoys themselves freely and respects privacy.” Staff put stickers over phone cameras on the way in, and anyone caught filming can be asked to leave. The club publishes its own photography and films, but guest pictures from the floors are rare. The interior photos below are mostly from 2008 to 2013 and were released under Creative Commons by the photographers, which is why they are some of the only licensed views of the rooms you can find.
Photos of fabric
From the street, fabric is just a blue frontage and a pair of steel doors. Everything else is below ground: the club runs through the old brick vaults of the Metropolitan Cold Stores, where meat for Smithfield was once kept.
The brickwork is the original cold store, left exposed. The London Museum, which tells the club’s story in its collection, describes “twisting stairs” leading down into more than 2,250 square metres of rooms, bars and corridors.
What fabric looks and sounds like inside
Because the camera rule holds on club nights, the best way to see the rooms is through what fabric and its DJs have filmed themselves. Three recordings, eighteen years apart.
In 2007, at the height of the DJ Mag years, Telekom Electronic Beats TV was allowed behind the scenes for a short club feature.
In 2021, after the pandemic closure, fabric filmed this trailer for Continuum, its series of 24-hour-plus parties that launched on 20 November that year.
And on 9 December 2023, Joris Voorn played eight hours in Room One and published the whole recording with a tracklist. “Fabric London is probably the best place to have this experience,” he wrote.
The three rooms
- Room One: the main room and the reason the club is famous. Its “bodysonic” dancefloor, the first in Europe according to the London Museum, was built over around 450 tactile transducers that shake with the bass, so you feel the kick through your feet. In January 2025 the original 1999 floor was replaced with a new system of Powersoft moving magnet transducers, months after the room’s Martin Audio rig was upgraded for the 25th birthday.
- Room Two and Room Three: the other two rooms, each with its own sound system. Two of the three rooms have stages for live acts, and fabric regularly records and films live sets in them, most recently in Room Three.
Each room runs its own independent sound system, which is why a Saturday can hold techno, house and something slower at the same time. Fridays are traditionally FABRICLIVE, the bass night for drum and bass, garage, dubstep and grime. Saturdays are house, techno and electro, anchored for 27 years by the founding residents Craig Richards and Terry Francis. Sundays are Come As You Are, or CAYA, which runs until 04:00.
From meat cold store to superclub
Before 1999: the Metropolitan Cold Stores
Smithfield has been London’s meat market for centuries, and from the 1860s meat was stored in underground warehouses around it. Number 77a Charterhouse Street, the Metropolitan Cold Stores, is one of those 19th-century cold stores. Keith Reilly and Cameron Leslie turned it into a club.
1999: opening night
fabric opened in October 1999, in time for the millennium. The London Museum dates the first public night to 22 October; most other accounts give 29 October. Within a decade it had topped the DJ Mag Top 100 Clubs poll in 2007 and 2008.
2001 to 2018: the mix CDs
From 2001 the club released a monthly mix CD, alternating between the fabric and FABRICLIVE series. Both ended at their hundredth edition in 2018, FABRICLIVE 100 by Kode9 and Burial and fabric 100 by Craig Richards, Terry Francis and Keith Reilly. A new quarterly series, fabric presents, followed in 2019, opened by Bonobo.
2016: closure and comeback
On 7 September 2016, after two drug-related deaths linked to the club, Islington Council revoked fabric’s licence. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, criticised the decision, and a campaign backed by DJs, musicians and clubbers raised more than £200,000 for a legal appeal. On 21 November the club and the council agreed terms for reopening, including a new ID scanning system, covert surveillance and lifetime bans for anyone caught with drugs. fabric reopened on Friday 6 January 2017 with a FABRICLIVE night whose line-up was kept secret until the night itself.
2021 to 2026: Continuum, 25 years and The Shard
After the pandemic the club brought back extended Continuum parties, celebrated its 25th birthday over three days in October 2024 and replaced the Room One floor in 2025. In 2026 it took its name outside Farringdon, with a party series with Sennheiser on the terrace of The Shard, 310 metres above the Thames.
What a night at fabric is actually like
- When: Friday and Saturday 23:00 to 06:00, Sunday 23:00 to 04:00. Last entry is an hour before the end. Continuum and birthday parties run longer.
- Age and ID: 18 and over, valid original photo ID, scanned at the door. No ID, no entry.
- The door: expect a search. fabric is friendly compared with Berlin, but it is strict about ID and drugs.
- Dress code: wear what you like, but no business suits, no flags and no glow wear. Our techno outfit guide has ideas.
- Photos: the camera gets a sticker. Leave it on.
- Tickets: advance tickets go through fabric’s site and Resident Advisor, £15 to £30 plus fees for a Saturday in October 2026, depending on the release. Some tickets are held back for the door from 23:00 even when a night is sold out.
- Re-entry: none. The smoking area inside is open all night and there is a cloakroom.
- Getting there: 77a Charterhouse Street, London EC1M 6HJ. Farringdon station (Elizabeth line and Underground) is a short walk; Chancery Lane is also close.
The next big nights at fabric
Dates from our London events calendar; each links to the night’s page with line-up and tickets.
| Date | Night |
|---|---|
| 20 November | AVAION, Notre Dame, LF SYSTEM and Eats Everything |
| 28 November | Palms Trax, Ogazón, Mathew Jonson (live), Antal and Joe Claussell |
| 4 December | FABRICLIVE x DEEP MEDi 20 with Mala, Kahn & Neek and Channel One |
| 5 December | 20 years of Klockworks: Ben Klock b2b Ryan Elliott, Cassy |
| 12 December | fabric Continuum: RPR Soundsystem, The Ghost, Craig Richards, Peach |
| 28 December | Joseph Capriati and Richy Ahmed, all night long |
| 31 December | fabric NYE: HAAi, Chlär, MARRØN, Jen Cardini, Fadi Mohem |
| 16 January 2027 | Craig Richards, all night long |
| 6 February 2027 | fabric Continuum: Planetary Assault Systems, Freddy K, DVS1, Polygonia, Efdemin |
| 13 March 2027 | fabric Continuum: Ricardo Villalobos and Craig Richards |
fabric vs Berghain vs Sisyphos
| fabric | Berghain | Sisyphos | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opened | October 1999 | 2004 | 2009 |
| Building | Victorian cold store under Smithfield Market | Power station, Friedrichshain | Dog biscuit factory, Rummelsburg |
| Door | 18+, ID scanned, searches | Famously unpredictable | Relaxed but rule-based, 21+ |
| Photos | Zero-photo policy, cameras stickered | Covered at the door | Covered at the door |
| Hours | Fri and Sat 23:00 to 06:00 | Saturday night into Monday | Friday night to Monday morning |
| Sound | Bass on Fridays, house and techno on Saturdays | Berghain techno, Panorama Bar house | Techno, minimal, deep and tech house |
| Best for | Three rooms and a floor you can feel | The marathon indoors | A summer weekend outdoors |
For the rest of the city, see our guide to the best nightclubs in London, and for the bigger picture the 25 best techno clubs in Europe.
fabric London FAQ
Does fabric have a dress code?
Not a strict one. fabric asks guests to dress how they like, but business suits, flags and glow wear are not permitted, and the door team can still turn away an outfit it feels does not suit the night.
Can you take photos inside fabric?
No. fabric runs a zero-photo policy, staff put stickers over phone cameras at the entrance, and guests caught filming or taking pictures can be removed. You can keep your phone, but the camera stays covered.
How old do you have to be to get into fabric?
18, with a valid original photo ID such as a passport, national ID card, driving licence or PASS card. IDs are scanned on entry, photocopies are not accepted, and no ID means no entry.
What time does fabric open and close?
Friday and Saturday club nights run from 23:00 to 06:00 and Sunday nights from 23:00 to 04:00. Continuum parties and special events run longer, so check the listing for each night.
Can you leave fabric and come back in?
No. fabric does not allow re-entry, so once you leave you cannot come back on the same ticket. The smoking area inside the club is open all night.
The TA view
Berlin’s clubs are famous for what you are not allowed to see. fabric is the London version of the same idea, with a British twist: the rules are written down, the ID gets scanned and the door is polite. What has kept it at the top for 27 years is not mystery but the room itself. Go on a Saturday, get to Room One before 2am, stand in the middle of the floor and let the bass come up through your feet. Then you will understand why nobody needs a photo.
Keep exploring: fabric club page · inside Berghain · inside Sisyphos · London events · techno clubs in the UK
