Co-founder of Oxford Street’s most notorious nightclub has big plans for ARQ

• Noir co-founder Dave Auld has plans to turn Sydney’s most iconic gay club, ARQ, into a new concept with the tentative name Aura.
• Noir has a history of courting controversy with the LGBTQI+ community due to its demographic.
• Auld has gone on record to say none of Noir’s partners, operators or promoters will be involved in the next evolution of ARQ.
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Two years ago, “influencer”-stuffed nightclub Noir drew the (justified) ire of Sydney’s LGBTQI community for changing the landscape of Oxford Street. Now, the club’s co-owner is taking over the city’s most famous gay club, ARQ.

“Oxford Street is more than just a street in Sydney, it’s an outlet, it is a culture, it is a safe space [and] it is a community,” wrote prominent community member KevinInTheCity in an open letter during the controversy, which was centered around a generally hostile environment supposedly drawn by Noir’s demographic.

“You are actively bringing aggressive and homophobic clientele to the heart of the queer community and I don’t think it bothers you at all,” wrote Kevin, who is known around Sydney as the ‘Glitter King’ and, as reported by Daily Mail, once directly experienced harassment from the club’s patrons as they queued outside of the club just metres from Taylor Square and the Rainbow District.

In 2023, two men were arrested after a machete stabbing incident outside the controversial nightclub.

Despite calls from the community to close its doors, Noir, which currently sits at 2.6 rating on Google Reviews, promised to “do better” via its Instagram.

Did Noir clean up its act?

Whether due to optics or a genuine desire to do better by the community, Noir has, to its credit, not had any reported incidents since 2023.

Noir co-founder and ARQ’s new proprietor Dave Auld has already stressed to Gay Sydney News that, he was a “silent partner in Noir,” ARQ’s future will not include any partners, operators or promoters from the “straight nightclub.”

Auld has also confirmed that the currently-shuttered ARQ Nightclub will be reinvented with tentative new name, Aura.

An Instagram account called @aura.club.sydney has already popped up, indicating an Autumn 2025 opening with speculation that the queer space won’t be shut for long.

Auld, who is the managing partner to the company behind Seadeck and Oasis, also pointed out that he has “done a lot of work with the LGBTQI+ community and have done so for decades, and will continue to do so.”

There’s receipts to back this up. Despite the negative sentiment and speculation over ARQ’s future, Auld’s various businesses have supported queer parties in the past, including hosting GAYM Entertainment’s Morning Glory events on Seadeck and even having a queer pop-up bar, Lavendr Lounge, at Noir during Sydney WorldPride.

ARQ hosted its final farewell parties just a few weeks ago with regulars Poof Doof holding the “final dance” on March 22. The future of Poof Doof at ARQ is yet to be confirmed but the party’s founder, Anthony Hocking, has said: “while this marks the end of an era, it’s also the start of a new chapter for Poof Doof in Sydney.”

Poof Doof will host its next Red Rave party at the Kinselas Hotel on Saturday, April 5.

Sydney Travel Guide will update this article once more information is available about Aura’s opening date.

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