Two fresh hotel applications enter the Sydney spotlight
Billbergia alongside Melbourne-based developer Golden Age Group have thrown forward separate development applications that stand to add 500 plus rooms to Sydney's hotel development pipeline.
The respective applications were both lodged earlier this month with North Sydney Council and City of Sydney and have a cumulative estimated cost just shy of $200 million. Both towers also intend to absorb and repurpose existing heritage buildings into their facade
The sustained surge in hotel developments across Sydney is seeing a flourish of hotel project proposals, although in Billbergia's case the hotel rooms share the proposed tower with commercial office space.
86-88 Walker Street, North Sydney
Entertainment venue Firehouse Hotel is set to gain a hulking addition to its rear with Billbergia pushing to add the 123 metre tower above the historic building. This will be achieved bay way of a cantilevered support structure that enables the tower to maximise its footprint.
The tower's new podium addition will compliment the Firehouse Hotel in both scale and composition. Flexible work spaces an executive lounge and gym plus reception and a restaurant account for the podium space.
Thereafter the Fitzpatrick + Partners-designed tower is a mix of 224 hotel rooms across the lower portion of the tower, chased by approximately 4,500 square metres of office space at the peak of the building. The office space is situated across levels 24 to 31.
86-88 Walker Street sits next door to what will become one of North Sydney's commercial developments; in excess of 40,000 square metres of office space is being delivered by builder Laing O’Rourke for Dexus Property Group. The new 38 level tower has progressed to see its floorplate move beyond 20 levels.
47-53 Wentworth Avenue, Sydney
A further 287 hotel rooms are on the agenda within Sydney's CBD as Golden Age Group project partner Time & Place heads a planning effort to push through with an adaptive heritage development of 47-53 Wentworth Avenue. All in all the new buildings is slated to span 19 levels with Bates Smart tasked with incorporating the dated facade into the development.
Bates Smart prevailed in an Competitive Design Competition held during 2016; the managed to surpass fellow design firms SJB, Tribe Studio and Koichi Takada Architecture by way of a design which is "capable of achieving Design Excellence as required by the City’s provisions."
In addition to the 287 guest rooms, a restaurant/cafe and bar are present at lower levels, with a rooftop bar and terrace crowning the building.
Lodged this month, the Bates Smart proposal includes revisions which sees residential apartments dropped in favour of increasing the size of the hotel. Consequently all parking within the development has been removed.
Fairfax has reported that Golden Age Group intend to dub the project The Treehouse, with it being a joint effort between the developer and Starwood Capital.
