“A Space for Everyone”: T-Squared Social Opens to Public

T-Squared Social, the multi-luxury sports club founded by Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake, had its soft opening on Wednesday 1 October, followed by a larger launch on Thursday 2 October. 

The club’s opening is situated amid years-long backlash from university students and local residents concerned over the loss of the New Picture House Cinema (NPH), which previously occupied the North Street building. In light of this, the venue stresses its efforts to preserve the history and atmosphere of the former NPH, promising to maintain a mainstream media cinema, which T-Squared Social St Andrews General Manager Evanna Holland said "should be opening on Friday, 10 October."

“People who may have had misgivings in the beginning have come in and noticed that we have put an enormous amount of care and respect into the building to make sure that it retains features,” Holland told The Saint. “We are so cognisant of the fact that this is a 95-year-old building, and it holds such a place in people's memories and in their nostalgia.” 

 Holland explained that the cinema will open with a screening of I Swear, which follows the true story of John Davidson, a young man from Galashiels with Tourette’s. Filming took place in Glasgow between June and August 2024.  

“We're really proud that we're opening with a Scottish movie,” said Holland, “and the cinema is something that we're so proud to be able to return to the community of St Andrews and the surrounding area.” 

The club has retained two of the cinemas. The smaller of the two remains mostly how it was in NPH, whilst the stadium-style cinema was repurposed to feature seating overhead the main lounge space. The main building’s bar seating and speakeasy-style private event space known as ‘The Vault’ — formerly the restaurant Lupo’s — have also undergone renovations and opened on Saturday 4 October. Patrons can expect an “elevated wine list” and a quieter dining area, Holland said.

 “[The] main floor has four sports simulators. It has dining. We have the bar area, which has three interactive darts boards with dining for screens, for watching sport [...] We have retail [...] We have the mezzanine area, which holds 188 seats,” Holland explained. “We want to make sure that this is a space that we cater to a lot of different people's needs.” 

Holland emphasised how T-Squared Social seeks to cater to a wide range of customers, crafting its menu to appeal to locals and tourists alike: “Our food has been done in mind with just being accessible. Someone trying to play golf on a sports emulator doesn't want to sit down to a steak dinner at the same time. So we've made sure that the burgers are not only tasty, but holdable in one hand.” 

“We're incredibly excited. We want this to be a space for everyone,” Holland said. “We think that, be it students or the local population […], people will find something that will be here for them.”

Images by Annabelle Mackey and Manraj Gill