Project One, an art gallery and D.J. lounge in San Francisco.

September 12, 2009, San Francisco

T a recent dinner party at Project One, an art gallery and D.J. lounge in the Potrero Hill design district here, guests were instructed to bring an organic dish to share, along with their own plates.

“We’re making the recession sexy,” said Brooke Waterhouse, a bubbly blonde wearing a thick coat of silver eye shadow and an antique gold lion pendant around her neck.

Last fall, she opened the club with her husband, the British technology entrepreneur Steve Waterhouse. Since then, the monthly art openings and frequent benefits have attracted a devoted and eclectic clientele, including local celebrities like the iPod designer Jonathan Ive and Stephan Jenkins, the lead singer of Third Eye Blind.

When there are no private parties, the doors are open to the public — mostly an iPhonewielding, 30-something set in vintage sneakers sipping wine, beer or herb-infused soju cocktails. D.J.’s spin electronic music under the disco ball, fog and green laser lights. On this evening, members of the city’s designerati dined in the gallery, which featured a monthlong show of work by eight local artists, ranging from $100 to $5,000. A $1,500 Peter Samuels photograph of a mop head sold on opening night. “It’s a great entry point, especially in this economy, for first-time collectors,” said Sabrina Buell, the West Coast director of the Matthew Marks Gallery, who attended the party.

Other guests included Riley Johndonnell, a founder of Surface magazine; Joe Haller and Ian Hannula from the fashion label Nice Collective; and industrial designers from Apple, who also gather at the club once a month for an electric disco night hosted by Markus Diebel, the vice president for design at InCase, which makes protective cases for handheld devices.

“My intent was to establish a forum for creative people who care about minimal house, techno and nu-disco,” Mr. Diebel wrote by e-mail. He named his monthly party Turbo, after the turbocharged cars popular in the late 1970s.

After traveling around the world with her husband for inspiration, Mrs. Waterhouse oversaw the design of the 3,200-square-foot lounge, with metal birds affixed to the wall in a flight pattern (crafted by the artist Laura Kimpton, of the hotel family). An eight-foot-tall steel candelabra sits on the rustic wood bar, which was imported from Bolinas, the surf enclave.

“Cape Town and Tokyo were big influences,” Mrs. Waterhouse said of her aesthetic choices.

Mr. Waterhouse, a recreational D.J., installed a sophisticated sound system that has drawn celebrity D.J.’s like Hercules and Love Affair, Rich Medina and Harvey Bassett (a k a D.J. Harvey). Although there’s an emphasis on dancing with abandon and unconventional fashion flairs, the Waterhouses try to keep the crowd discerning and art-focused.

“We’re not really a Burning Man bar,” Mrs. Waterhouse said. “We’re a little more sophisticated than that, but we all go there.”

The club often gets a permit to stay open as late as 4 a.m. There’s no sign on the door andFacebook updates are the only promotions. The Waterhouses hold court practically every night and Mrs. Waterhouse’s brother tends bar.

“We’re passionate about music and art,” Mr. Waterhouse said. “And we wanted a place to hang out with our friends.”

PROJECT ONE

251 Rhode Island Street, San Francisco, (415) 935-0994; p1sf.com.

GETTING IN Sometimes there is no cover, sometimes it can be up to $20, depending on the D.J.

DRESS CODE If you’re wearing sparkly accessories, a fedora, vintage sneakers and a hooded sweatshirt or leather jacket, you’ll fit in just fine.

SIGNATURE DRINK Pomegranate ginger fizz (prosecco, pomegranate and ginger syrup, $9).

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