Holiday Inn, Geelong Quarter

Growth and Context

Geelong is now one of Australia’s fastest growing regional cities. With a population expected to grow by more than 150 000 people over the next twenty years, the urban environment and amenity needs to respond accordingly. Our conceptual response was to fuse Geelong’s Industrial past with its current cultural climate. A refined, industrial palette became the frame through which we celebrate the evolution of Geelong and its moments of wonder. The new hotel balances economic and social viability for the local area by significantly boosting the economic development in Geelong and encouraging tourism in the area to enjoy the sights.

The precinct is situated on one of the key entrance streets to Geelong city centre, with an enviable proximity to water, which creates a landmark branding opportunity. The design focuses on user experience, while also providing a passive design solution from an ESD perspective, featuring rainwater harvesting irrigation. Each space provides a level of comfort that is fit-for-purpose and maximises the views and connectivity to its surrounding landscape. The Ryrie Street site delivers a truly mixed-use project that responds to the Central Geelong Action Plan, which will see Geelong evolve from its manufacturing roots to a city of culture and innovation.

Ryrie Home

The building references local architecture and the city’s historic wool stores through the fabric and strong compositional order of the laid brick podium and street wall. Subsequent storeys retain this cohesive rectangular geometry, while transitioning into a restrained material palette comprising folded metals, rich textured concrete, recessive glazing and local hardwood.

Ryrie Residential

Creating a new standard of luxury living in Geelong, a selection of warm and natural finishes for the interiors complement the building’s exterior of solid forms with textured overlay, creating a mood of repose and comfort. Both the warm and cool palettes offer a selection of subtle natural tones and include combinations of stone, terrazzo tiles, wool carpet and timber finishes.

Residents will benefit from the convenience and service offered by the Holiday Inn such as concierge services, room service, gym and pool facilities, dining, housekeeping and a business centre.

Holiday Inn

With our solid understanding of the Geelong Holiday Inn’s site context – from undertaking several feasibility studies – Architectus was appointed to the project by Franze Developments for our combined expertise of the commercial, residential, and interior design sectors. We provided design services for all aspects of the hotel, with an emphasis on the space planning and interior components and worked closely with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) to ensure all operational, aesthetic and branding aspirations were met for this – the first hotel project for twenty years in Geelong.

The IHG brief outlined a $75m, 180-room, hotel with a visible connection between the Ground Floor Lobby/Concierge and Level 1 Open Lobby, to incorporate a suite of guest spaces including a pool, gymnasium, all day dining, bar/café, meeting/events space and a media lounge. There are three key Design Style Layers. A base of Ease & Assurance, contrasted with optimistic colours from Happiness, and completed with a sprinkling of intriguing textures and materials.

The primary elements within Level 1 had key adjacencies, which were natural and necessary connections and made operational and physical sense. Through considered space planning and interrogation of the brief, a functional plan was achieved.