The South Yarra hotel reimagined to evoke an intimate sense of place

In the tree-lined streets of upscale South Yarra in Melbourne, The Lyall Hotel has been reimagined to evoke a unique sense of place, celebrating grand hotel service and design on an intimate scale that feels personal yet luxurious. The privately owned five-star hotel offers 51 rooms and suites, which were recently transformed by DKO Architects, elevating the spaces into contemporary retreats that exude comfort at every level.

From Parisienne balcony rooms to glamorous grand suites and a penthouse suite, each is generous in size, with a bathing, dressing and living area, complemented with private furnished balconies overlooking the Japanese Maple Garden.

DKO is a multi-disciplinary, award-winning design practice centred on creating ingenious spaces that are driven by the needs of the user, and the dynamic process of translating design intent into built outcomes. The design team: Lidia Brugnaro, Michael Drescher and Jacob Olsen, were  impassioned by the Lyall Hotel project for the past three years and laboured over every detail.

“The Lyall Hotel is on point for South Yarra. The locals are very proud of it,” shares Design Director Drescher. “Now the story continues, the Lyall has had a long history and we have helped reinstate the beauty and charm of it with a modern and timely chapter.”

In the completely reimagined interior spaces, guests are invited in through the lush, alfresco dining area into the lobby, where they are immediately immersed in a cool world of refined opulence. 

Drescher says DKO employed a “people-led” design approach, expressing the intimate ease of a residential experience.

The old-world charm of the building has been celebrated with the retention of generous, domestic-sized rooms, all of which feature luxurious bathing and dressing suites and some of which feature fireplaces and a huge outdoor terrace.

They have been designed to evoke a sense of calm and comfort using luxuriously textured fabrics in restful tones, while a bespoke collection of furniture using dark-stained Tasmanian oak was exclusively designed by the DKO team and manufactured in Melbourne.

All suites have king or twin beds and French or furnished balconies. Thoughtfully curated inclusions add to The Lyall charm with velour bathrobes and slippers, Nespresso Machines, and luxury bath amenities. 

New to the latest iteration of The Lyall are two vast suites at the back of the existing hotel; a north suite and south suite that are the epitome of understated luxury.

The goal of the transformation was to create a ‘hotel for those who don’t like hotels’ and the exquisite attention to detail, luxurious touches, and elegant styling have achieved exactly that.

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