Jasper Hotel

2018 Melbourne, Australia Hospitality Evoking Australia’s Natural Beauty For the old Jasper hotel, dimmed by age, we thought there could be nothing more potent than its namesake stone, the fiery Jasper, to provide inspiration for our task of reinvigorating it. Inspired by Jasper as the embodiment of Australian land, we sought to evoke the moods of Aboriginal environments. Even if our design is contemporary: a lowered, timber slat ceiling mimics the feel of a grotto; seating and rugs allude to red dunes or cracked arid plains. You might say Jasper is both an abode and an escape in modern Melburnian CBD Our design concept was inspired by the characteristics of the Jasper Stone woven together with the texture. We sought to breathe new life into the dark and dank interiors that previously existed in these spaces. A landscaped courtyard, built where a defunct basketball court once stood, further creates imagery of natural Australian landscape. This glass-roofed atrium brings daylight and verdant colour into all 30 of its surrounding rooms. Visitors are taken on a journey throughout the hotel, with each floor featuring different elements of the distinct Australian environment. Each materiality, texture and colour we’ve chosen are employed to promote ideas of the desert and the outback. Corridors leading to new rooms reinforce the texture of the earth with LED lighting illuminating walls and ceiling surfaces. From their rooms, guests may step outside sliding glass doors for fresh air, an amenity and extension that is welcome in the CBD context. On event days, this tranquil breathing space transforms into a lively courtyard—the garden deck as popular for a wedding party as it is a corporate event for that office located just a stone’s throw away.