The QT Hotel - melding two of Sydney’s most majestical historical buildings

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Client: Amalgamated Holdings Limited (AHL)

Sectors: Retail and Hospitality

The QT Hotel Sydney, a highly curated fusion of cutting-edge art and bold interior design, sits quirkily within the restored and fused heritage Gowings and State Theatre buildings.

At a glance

The QT Hotel Sydney, a highly curated fusion of cutting-edge art and bold interior design, sits quirkily within the restored and fused heritage Gowings and State Theatre buildings.

The challenge

This complex project with historically differing uses and construction led to unique challenges in terms of connectivity - structurally, architecturally and in terms of the resultant interior spaces.

Our response

As principal architect, we led the design team through a truly collaborative two-year process that the cooperation of the creative builder, Built and team of external consultants.

Maintaining a consistent design team through the entire design and construction process, underpinned the successful collaboration with Graham Brooks and Associates - heritage consultants and Sydney City Council’s Senior Heritage Specialist and two interior designers, Nic Graham for the public areas and Indyk for guest room interiors.

This dedicated team had to remain flexible, providing immediate responses to the discovery of original heritage detailing, artefacts and past documents. This flexibility has leveraged the entire design team to create a richer outcome.

Beyond the lead architect role, we also managed the back of house interior design, together with the restoration and interpretation of the heritage lobbies and their interfaces.

The impact

As Sydney’s first new-build property to grace the city in a decade, QT quickly became the hotel of choice, offering 200 quirky rooms, a range of new drinking and dining establishments and a revitalised State Theatre.