Behind the green door: A look inside I / AM House

A velvet-wrapped Formula One car. A hidden speakeasy. Fernando Alonso on the telephone. For its home race weekend, Aston Martin Aramco transformed Soho's House Party into I / AM House – a seven-floor takeover where every room had a story to tell, and Formula One felt less like a sport and more like home.

"Is that... an F1 car?"

It's the question that keeps rippling up and down Poland Street. People stop. Double back. Pull out their phones. Outside House Party sits an Aston Martin Aramco F1 car. Not on a plinth. Not behind barriers. Just... there. As casually as if someone had parallel parked it between meetings.

Except this isn't any Formula One car. It's wrapped in velvet.

Aston Martin Racing Green, softened. Almost touchable. Created to celebrate Aston Martin Aramco's latest collaboration with PUMA and the launch of the velvet collection. It looks less like a race car and more like an art installation that's somehow escaped onto a Soho pavement.

Inside, people are already talking. Some have travelled across the country. Others have come straight from work. Everyone seems to have read Adrian Newey's latest UNDERCUT interview, published only days earlier, and opinions are bouncing around the queue before anyone has even crossed the threshold.

Nobody really knows what's waiting upstairs. That's deliberate. Because I / AM House doesn't reveal itself all at once. It unfolds.

The first surprise is how little it feels like an activation. No giant logos. No prescribed route. No one ushering you from branded moment to branded moment. Instead, it feels like you've walked into somebody's house while they've popped to the shops.

Someone who just happens to be obsessed with Aston Martin Aramco...

A driver poster pinned above a bed. A race car hanging where a family portrait should be. Fridge magnets with Formula One references. A mug declaring: 'I might look like I'm listening, but in my head I'm thinking about F1.' The details aren't demanding your attention. They're rewarding it.

The kitchen hums with energy. The fridge is stacked with CELSIUS. An old race plays quietly on a television tucked into the corner. People lean against worktops with drinks in hand like they've been coming here for years. Nobody feels like a guest. That's the trick.

Upstairs, the kid's bedroom is every Formula One fan's childhood fantasy made real. Aston Martin Aramco bedding. A Nintendo 64. A desktop computer with Fernando Alonso dancing endlessly across the screensaver. It's playful without trying too hard. The kind of room that makes grown adults smile before quietly admitting they'd happily move in tomorrow. In one corner, guests personalise Valvoline T-shirts. Not merch. Keepsakes.

The parents' bedroom tells a different story. Softer lighting. Aston Martin's finest road cars instead of F1 cars. Less noise. More design. An Eight Sleep mattress quietly steals the show.

And yes, admin did bounce on it. Briefly. Purely in the interests of journalism.

Downstairs, the garage feels exactly as a Valvoline garage should. Concrete floors. Tool chests. Shelves lined with everything a mechanic might need. Until you notice the DJ decks in the corner and oil cans sharing shelf-space with speakers, waiting for later.

Then, almost hidden amongst it all, a sofa. The 'Feels like home' sofa, created with YoungMinds. A place to stop. Talk. Listen. Because feeling at home isn't only about where you are. Sometimes it's about who lets you be yourself.

By late afternoon the house has found its rhythm. People stop checking their phones. Groups blur together. Friends introduce friends. People who arrived alone aren't alone anymore. It's remarkable how quickly a stranger becomes someone you're talking Formula One with over pizza.

Then someone picks up the phone. It's mounted on the wall. Looks ordinary. It isn't.

Fernando Alonso answers. He asks for a code.

1959.

A click. A pause. The bookcase swings open. Half the room collectively forgets how doors work. Behind it sits Glenfiddich's hidden Secret Room. Low light. Warm wood. Leather chairs. A personalised whisky tasting hidden inside what already felt like the coolest house in Soho.

Guests are guided through Glenfiddich's craft while sampling a limited-edition 16-year-old single malt created to celebrate its partnership with Aston Martin Aramco. Nobody expected a speakeasy. Everyone leaves talking about it.

Outside, golden hour settles across the terrace. Conversations stretch longer. Drinks stay fuller. The music slowly starts to creep upstairs.

Then the DJs arrive.

Friday belongs to Max Dean after Meeshy sets the tone. 24 hours later, Barry Can't Swim turns the house into something closer to an after-hours living room than a venue. No VIP sections. No velvet ropes. Just people dancing in someone's house. It just happens to belong to Aston Martin Aramco for the weekend.

Laura has travelled from west Wales. "The small details make it," she says, looking around the kitchen.

"It feels intimate. It feels like somewhere you'd actually live. This isn't just putting a car in a city centre. It's interactive. It makes you feel wanted as a fan."

She smiles towards fellow I / AM member Shannon. "We both came on our own. Now we're leaving as friends."

Shannon nods. "It genuinely feels like a house party with Aston Martin Aramco seamlessly woven into it. My favourite room is the kid's bedroom. It reminds me of growing up. Experiences like this bring fans closer to the team."

Theo can't stop looking at the walls. "It looks lived in. Like someone's actually decorated it. It could genuinely be my room."

Harry puts it another way. "This takes Formula One beyond the racetrack."

That's probably the point. Modern Formula One fandom doesn't live in one place anymore. It lives in Discord servers. TikTok comments. Group chats. Sim rigs. Grandstands. Bedrooms. Living rooms. It lives wherever people decide it does.

For one weekend in Soho, Aston Martin Aramco gave all of those places an address. Not an event. Not an activation. A home.

And judging by how reluctant people were to leave, it felt exactly like one.

Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team and Glenfiddich® promote responsible attitudes to alcohol. You should never drink and drive. Together our partners at Glenfiddich® share our approach and commitment to promote this important message.