When the owners of the old Melbourne Hotel in Perth’s CBD decided to give the beautiful heritage building a new lease on life, they were keen to synergise the historical with the modern to create something utterly beautiful and unique. With the help of architect, Lou Cotter, and the experts at AWS, they have achieved just that.

The Melbourne Hotel is a quirky, boutique hotel, originally built in 1897. The new incarnation retains 21 heritage rooms and an additional 52 new rooms. According to Lou Cotter, the curtain wall on the building’s front façade was central to creating a link between the new and the old. “In this case, we elected to use a thread patterning on the glass,” says Lou. “The pattern was developed from the balustrade pattern on the hotel which is still intact, and so it’s expressive of the free classical style of the original hotel.”

In the past, Lou had dealt with offshore curtain-wall manufacturers and installers. Unfortunately, he encountered a number of challenges in terms of quality control. For this project, he chose to work with Australian company, AWS. AWS recommended the Series 168 Curtain Wall. “We’re very happy that they (AWS) participated in the project. We’ve taken advantage of a range of suites that they have available.” The other advantage of the curtain wall is that AWS specifically designed it to control glare.

To interpret the history of the western façade, the architect chose to suspend backlit steel and timber frames to reflect the location of the original window openings. “It gives it a nice reading of how the façade is now and how it was when it was originally built,” says Lou. “I think the great outcome for this project is that it’s accessible to the public…a heritage building that engages with the public guarantees its broader appreciation by the community, and that extends the life of the building well into the future.”

The pattern was developed from the balustrade pattern on the hotel which is still intact, and so it’s expressive of the free classical style of the original hotel.

Photographer: Silverstone Photography