Inside our latest House Foundations project
What began as a plan to transform Soho House Barcelona pool towels into beach bags is now transforming lives in the local community
Friday 18 September 2026 By Catherine Jarvie
Our Houses are recognisable around the world for their distinctive design, and few things are more distinctive than our pool towels – featuring cabana stripes in different colourways, each design is inspired by and unique to its House. At Soho House Barcelona, the terracotta and white striped towels have been put to a special new use, thanks to an upcycling project that transforms them into lifestyle products as part of our sustainability and social impact programme, House Foundations.
‘We started this project five years ago,’ says Jordi Garcia, General Manager at Soho House Barcelona. Back then, the range comprised of a beach bag and matching vanity case, which were both lined with fabrics made from recycled plastic bottles. The pieces were initially created in collaboration with a start-up, whose founders introduced the Soho House team to Fundació Roure – a social enterprise with a branch in Sant Pere, just a short walk from the House.
‘Fundació Roure runs many different projects,’ says Garcia. One of these is supporting vulnerable people at risk of social exclusion by providing them with training in practical skills with the objective of ‘empowering them to find employment independently after a period of time’. In this instance, a sewing workshop that’s ‘largely made up of migrant women from Africa and South America’.
The products were well received, so in 2024, the Soho House Barcelona team returned to the foundation with a plan to broaden the project’s appeal and evolve the design of the bag and vanity case – one of the key updates is that the interior is now made from old bed sheets. As a result, Little Beach House Barcelona also got in on the action, now offering its own House beach bag (mint green and white with narrow stripes), also crafted by Fundació Roure.
Following on from these successes, this year we’ve expanded the range of products to include bibs in Soho House Barcelona’s signature stripes. The team is also developing a new vanity case and laptop case, both made from surplus fabric originally used for Soho Home sofas, benches, and armchairs. All three items are crafted by Fundació Roure. Alongside this, the team has collaborated with a local dog clothing atelier to create ‘bone’ toys for service dogs, also repurposed from old pool towels. Members and guests can currently purchase the beach bag, vanity case, bib, and dog toy from Soho House Barcelona and in the club’s spa.
As well as creating these products with Fundació Roure, the House is also working closely across several of the foundation’s other projects – including providing sewing and laundry services for hostels, and hosting a food bank and soup kitchen, among others. ‘We donate equipment to them – which they sell in their second-hand shop – and they carry out most of our sewing repairs alongside making our beach bags,’ Garcia says. ‘We also act as a link between our suppliers and them. For example, our food supplier, Ametller, gives them food products and our laundry company also donates old towels or provides laundry support.’
Altogether, it’s an example of the kind of connections and support House Foundations sets out to achieve – whether through access and initiatives such as our Soho Mentorship and Soho Futures Grant programmes, or via sustainability projects such as our partnership with the Paper Foundation in 2023. This saw around 200kg of bed sheets from our UK Houses (linens that through wear and tear would otherwise go to waste) transformed into 46,000 illustrated postcards, which were then distributed across our Houses for members to enjoy.
We’re always looking for new ways to work more closely with our communities – so if you have a bright idea, get in touch. You can find out more about House Foundations and read our latest Impact Report here.
Explore Soho House Barcelona and apply for membership
