Hotel House

Region­al­ly locat­ed, our clients wished for a sec­ond city home to main­tain con­nec­tion with friends, fam­i­ly and the excite­ment and ameni­ty of urban life. A new build tai­lored for brief stays, the Hotel House dis­sects the com­po­nents of a bou­tique hos­pi­tal­i­ty expe­ri­ence – encom­pass­ing glam­our, con­ve­nience, cul­tur­al immer­sion, and metic­u­lous atten­tion to detail – to devise an ele­vat­ed archi­tec­ture and inte­ri­or frame­work for their hol­i­day retreat.

Sit­u­at­ed in the inner-city sub­urb of South Yarra, this com­pact two-bed­room, (with adapt­able design for a poten­tial third bed­room) accom­mo­da­tion pri­ori­tis­es style and qual­i­ty over size. 

Archi­tec­tural­ly, the home is expressed as two con­trast­ing vol­umes, inter­twined to respond to the site influ­ences and cre­at­ing an inter­nal court­yard on the ground lev­el and rooftop bal­cony pro­vid­ing pri­va­cy and ameni­ty. The vol­umes are clear­ly dif­fer­en­ti­at­ed with the upper geom­e­try being smooth light ren­der and the base geom­e­try being high­ly tex­tured dark tim­ber. The over­lap­ping con­fig­u­ra­tion allows for dra­mat­ic dou­ble-height spaces inter­nal­ly whilst form­ing access to key light opportunities.

Con­cep­tu­al­ly, spaces are arranged around the expec­ta­tions of a hotel expe­ri­ence. A curved tun­nel-like cor­ri­dor leads from entry, past a bag drop into the drinks lounge, beneath a dra­mat­ic void. Adja­cent, a chef’s kitchen and bar, packed with func­tion, but refined in detail, are built for sophis­ti­cat­ed enter­tain­ing. A series of large slid­ing doors cre­ate an inti­mate music and read­ing room to open up when required. A mez­za­nine study over­looks the void, lead­ing to two lux­u­ri­ous hotel suite style bed­room and washrooms.

A rich palette bal­ances light and dark, tex­ture and refine­ment, cre­at­ing inti­ma­cy and a sense of escape with moments of vivid colour. A diverse selec­tion of stones, met­al fin­ish­es, plas­ters, leathers, glass­es and tim­ber pro­vide warmth and com­fort. Being a com­pact site, top light­ing has been utilised for both pri­va­cy and dra­ma, fill­ing the play­ful spaces with wash­es of light through­out the day. Arti­fi­cial light­ing ampli­fies tex­tures and detail, and wash­es met­al screens, cre­at­ing spa­tial lay­ers and depth throughout.

Under­pinned with ease and enjoy­ment, the Hotel House was designed to under­stand our client’s needs and to ele­vate their city abode with a sense of luxury.