New Zealand Commercial Design Trends Series NZ Commercial Design Trends Vol. 34/02C | Page 64

Project
West Hotel
Location:
Sydney
Architect:
Fitzpatrick & Partners
Interior designer
Woods Bagot
FACE OF CHANGE
Guests at West Hotel activate its ‘Chanel purse’ facade as their movements, the
opening or closing of drapes, or lighting choices animate the room-size windows
Previous pages:West Hotel
offers travellers a unique stay
in the heart of Sydney. Tucked
between two buildings in the
western corridor between Sydney
Harbour and the CBD, the design
has a cohesive expression, from
the faceted facade through to
room interior detailing.
Left:Players on a stage – guest
movements animate West Hotel’s
one-off facade. Each window is
the full size of the room behind it.
Facing page:At the point of
arrival, native flora is referenced
in a bespoke botanical artwork
behind the minimalist reception
desk. Designed to be immersive,
the double-height lobby features
charcoal brickwork walls and
a geometric timber floor pattern
that references the distinctive
facade. A sculptural lighting
piece functions as a cloud-like
installation within the space.
Hotels often rely on their great setting or
proximity to retail or commercial hubs to draw
guests to their establishment. The West Hotel in
Sydney has both these advantages, but creative
design – inside and out – make the contemporary,
182-room hotel an attraction in its own right.
The brief was to design a building that responded
to the character of the Western edge of the Sydney
CBD, yet popped out as offering something
quite unique, says James Fitzpatrick, principal of
Fitzpatrick & Partners, the studio that undertook the
design of the boutique hotel.
“The design borrows ideas from the surrounding
buildings of this part of the city, but then abstracts
these elements to create something special,” says
Fitzpatrick. “From the beginning, it was the people
using the building and how this was represented
in the architecture that would drive the design and
create that unique sparkle, that something special.”
The diamanté studded or ‘Chanel handbag’
façade concept was born from this thinking, as a
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way to visually define and animate every room at
the hotel as part of its visual attraction.
“Essentially, every room-size window frame acts
as a proscenium to the guest room’s internal activi-
ties, and this creates the energy of the building,”
says Fitzpatrick. “Whether it’s lights on or lights
off, curtains open or closed, voyeuristic or private,
this variability of use creates the variety of visual
expression which is the character of the building.”
The individual prisms have two solid aluminium
facets to minimise solar gain from the north. Plus,
the generally square modules were halved for a
more vertical shape on the far left side of the front
facade. This creates an accent that complements
the verticality of a heritage building alongside.
However, the one-of-a-kind faceted facade
appears on the other sides of the building too, as
well as in the oasis-like atrium. It is even echoed in
the shaping of the roof plant, as several adjacent
taller buildings look down on the hotel.
To let the drama of the facade and the movement