All images by Anson Smart.
Award-winning architectural firm Bates Smart has revitalised the interior public areas of the Pier One Hotel in Sydney’s Walsh Bay, introducing luxurious contemporary bespoke fittings that complement the building’s original heritage features.
Completed in March 2015, the luxurious hotel fit out recalls the building’s past as a terminal for P&O liners in the 1910s, by drawing on the architectural language and elements from the pier.
Reclaimed timber wall cladding echoes the timber found along the Pier One finger-wharf, while custom made boat-shaped light fittings are a nod to the hotel’s maritime heritage.
The rawness of the building’s original fixtures is contrasted with more lavish materials to give off a sense of relaxed sophistication. The lobby’s polished stone floor contains hints of gold, contrasting with the lounge’s antique bar wood timber floorboards, while the zinc-finished bar countertop counterbalances the honed white marble base.
The layout of the hotel’s Gantry restaurant and bar areas has also been refreshed in order to connect the hotel’s previously separate public areas. The bar now enjoys a prominent position in the hotel’s ground floor lobby. Custom-made from Calacutta Oro marble and Brown Florentine zinc, it encourages guests to enter the lounge and enjoy the stunning harbour views
Brenton Smith, Studio Director of Interior Design, explains that the hotel’s unique and bespoke feel comes from its custom-designed elements, as well as fittings that have never been seen in Sydney before.
With its stunning new interior, the Pier One Hotel exudes a feeling of casual elegance against the backdrop of expansive views of Sydney Harbour and Luna Park.