CAREERS
From nightclubs to the Savoy, Experiential architect and founder of Oh La La! Macarons Meredith O’Shaughnessy shares her career journey
After starting a materials science and engineering degree at Queen Mary, University of London, Australian-born Meredith O’Shaughnessy worked at all the big London nightclubs of the Noughties before founding two businesses, Meredith Collective, an immersive experience studio, and Oh La La!
Macarons. ‘They’re not that different from each other,’ she says. ‘Whether I’m building an immersive experience or making a 4.2cm macaron, it’s all about the details.’
I LOVED THE VIBRANCY AND FREEDOM THAT NIGHTLIFE OFFERED. On weekdays, I worked in PR, and at weekends I worked in nightclubs. I started at Bagley’s before moving to Heaven. When Kensington Roof Gardens was refurbished in 2001, I was asked to be the club manager, overseeing the opening of Babylon restaurant at 23 years old. I don’t think there’s a celebrity of the Noughties I didn’t look after, from Rihanna to Debbie Harry.
WORKING IN NIGHTclubs TAUGHT ME ABOUT THE POWER OF DREAMS. A nightclub is a constructed fantasy, where we can be anything we want for a night. I left Kensington Roof Gardens to travel the world, and then came back to London to work at Café de Paris, The Rex Cinema + Bar and Chinawhite. Bungalow 8 founder Amy Sacco was a good friend and I started running Meredith O’s Private Parlour Parties there, with all-female DJs and cupcakes at midnight. People started asking me to create experiences for them so, in 2012, I set up Meredith Collective. TO FUND THE COMPANY, I STARTED ANOTHER BUSINESS, OH LA LA! MACARONS. I taught myself how to make macarons from a book, and within six weeks, I held the world’s first ‘macaron and Martini making’ workshop. The concept was novel at the time and it was wildly popular from day one. I unwittingly captured the hen-party market, as it offered a classy and stylish bonding experience. BACK THEN, IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES WERE A NEW Thing. In 2014, I put on a 21-day Nordic Yulefest – an enchanted forest in a Shoreditch attic, complete with imps that hung from the ceiling and stole food off the tables.
In 2016, I launched an avocado-themed pop-up restaurant, and in 2017, I created a Christmas rage room, where people paid to smash Christmas trees with baseball bats. Each pop-up was unique yet on-trend enough to receive global press; the Evening Standard called me the ‘Pop-up Queen of London.’ IN 2021, THE SAVOY and Bowmore whisky ASKED ME TO CREATE AN EXPERIENCE TO ENTICE PEOPLE BACK AFTER THE PANDEMIC. We settl
