Melbourne by Melbourne: Kennedy Nolan’s Homage to Local Design Culture at Melbourne Place.

Hotel entrance. Photography: Derek Swalwell.

Lobby entrance. Photography: Derek Swalwell.

The entry lobby. Photography: Derek Swalwell.

The entry lobby. Photography: Derek Swalwell.

Guest lounge. Photography: Derek Swalwell.

Guest lounge and event spaces. Photography: Derek Swalwell.

Event space. Photography: Derek Swalwell.

Hotel facade & local context. Photography: Derek Swalwell.

Melbourne Place represents a rare achievement—a new hotel brand and building developed simultaneously, each informing the other, achieving the perfect balance of cosy and contemporary, with a unique hit of cool only the Victorian capital knows how to do. Designed for Melbourne by Melbourne (Architects), it represents only the best in the local art and design scene and showcases the talent the city continues to possess.

“Independent hotels are rare in Melbourne, but Melbourne Place is a true unicorn because it is a new hotel brand in a brand-new building,” explains Patrick Kennedy, founding partner at Kennedy Nolan. “The development of the brand and the design of the building have informed each other from the very beginning so that the identity of this hotel is expressed in every part of the physical building and its interiors.”

The project is what’s known as a complete design, meaning both the exterior and the interior were designed by Kennedy Nolan, weighing in significantly when it came to developing the hotel’s brand too. The success and seamlessness of the space can be owed to the simultaneous development of both the 16-storey building (a new build) and the hotel brand, each informing the other as the development grew.

Kennedy Nolan Archives

Dive into more projects by Kennedy Nolan Architects previously featured on Yellowtrace.

The richly coloured hotel corridors. Photography: Anson Smart.

Room entrance. Photography: Anson Smart.

Photography: Anson Smart.

Photography: Anson Smart.

Corner suites with balconies & operable bathroom partitions. Photography: Anson Smart.

Photography: Anson Smart.

Standard rooms. Photography: Sean Fennessy.

Photography: Sean Fennessy.

Upper level suites. Photography: Anson Smart.

Photography: Anson Smart.

Photography: Anson Smart.

Photography: Anson Smart.

Photography: Anson Smart.

The penthouse. Photography: Anson Smart.

Photography: Anson Smart.

Photography: Anson Smart.

“There was an unusual amount of design freedom in this project,” confesses Kennedy. “The concept for the hotel was developed from first principles by a team including Josh Taylor (the original Client and creator of the concept), Kennedy Nolan and Studio Round creative agency, with the advice of several other parties. This process allowed us to question orthodoxies with guidance from seasoned industry experts and take a completely fresh visual approach grounded in local design culture.”

The building synthesises the heritage brick and masonry edifices surrounding Melbourne with a novel, innovative approach to the contemporary city and its design. The envelope sports a certain visual unity, most notably in the highly modelled facade, its mass and scale possessing a 20th Century quality reminiscent of the neighbouring buildings such as Cavendish House, the T&G building and Hero, the old Russell St telephone exchange, all significant in their own way. Here, we see the blend of red bricks, fired in the historic west Victorian brickworks, alongside concrete tinted with a red oxide that speaks to the Australian landscape, something which is further referenced in the interior design of the hotel.

Upon entry, the tonal scale shifts from terroir to treetop. It pays homage to the Australian landscape with its red oxide and dark umber palette, also offering green hues that grow from sage through to deep forest and fern features. These shifts can be seen in the hotel rooms, juxtaposed and challenged by features, proving the design team had fun. Pops of sky blue, Bottega green, and Habanero red can be seen throughout, not just in the rooms but also in the corridors, guest areas and the hotel’s flagship roof-top dining destination.

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Photography: Derek Swalwell.

Mid Air sits on the rooftop of Melbourne Place. Photography: Kristoffer Paulsen.

Mid Air terrace. Photography: Kristoffer Paulsen.

Photography: Derek Swalwell.

Photography: Kristoffer Paulsen.

Photography: Derek Swalwell.

Photography: Derek Swalwell.

“We are great believers in emotional or sensory connections to place,” explains Kennedy. “This connection amplifies the role of places and spaces in our culture, allowing settings to be distinct characters in our collective memory. There are many ways to make these connections, but we have focused on intensity. We prioritised the powerful properties of colour and were especially interested in how combinations can be more than the sum of their parts or how full immersion in colour can be invigorating or sensual.”

Materials such as locally sourced terrazzo from Fibonacci were created in blends specifically for the hotel. They can be seen alongside West Australian Jarrah and the metallic accents of the brass and Corten steel in the hotel room casework and joinery, silk wallpaper, and upholstered panels in raw linen. Sourcing locally was essential to the brand, and many of the lighting fixtures, fittings, and furniture come from designers in Melbourne and Australia who created the works especially for this space.

“Local artists have been commissioned, not simply to adorn, but to represent Melbourne culture—contemporary, sophisticated, urban, multi-cultural and grounded in the lands of the world’s oldest continuous living culture,” says Kennedy. “The effect is visually fresh but uncannily familiar because it is an authentic representation of place—it is a hotel which could only be made in Melbourne.”

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[Images courtesy of Kennedy Nolan. Photography by Derek Swalwell, Anson Smart and Kristoffer Paulsen.]