A new boutique hotel with an industrial-inspired exterior wrapped in weathered steel has opened in Fitzroy, Melbourne.
The sturdy, stacked structure - designed by architecture firm Woods Bagot in collaboration with Hecker Guthrie for interiors - houses the StandardX, an international hotel chain.
The eight-storey building accommodates 125 suites, a rooftop restaurant and bar for hotel guests, a second restaurant, a lobby, an elevated loft with a fireplace, a retail outlet, several common areas, and a bodega.
Its robust exterior of Corten steel was intended to pay homage to Fitzroy's industrial history as Melbourne's oldest suburb. Rather than adopting a sleek and polished facade, the building references the gritty, unrefined character and urban texture of its location.
Woods Bagot's principal, Peter Miglis, and project leader, Robert Rosamilia, said the building reads like it belongs.
"The building rapidly assumes a distinctly local patina that speaks to Fitzroy's convergence of industrial heritage and contemporary artistic sensibility," said Rosamilia. "It's a building that's entirely of its place," he added.
Miglis reiterated those sentiments, mentioning that the hotel was created to cater to the experiential traveller who desires to "immerse themselves in the rhythm and pulse of place."
Hecker Guthrie applied a similar approach the interior design, drawing inspiration from Fitzroy's heritage as a working-class suburb full of cultural vibrancy. The studio characterised the interiors as a blend of "grittiness" and "modern comforts."
Standout interior features include a bold revolving door, a ground floor that opens to an elevated loft with a fireplace, custom furniture and antique pieces, and internal columns wrapped in macrame by local artist Sarah Smalltown. Local artists' works are displayed throughout the interiors, again emphasising the connection to place.
The StandardX opened on 8 August 2024. Construction began on the building in March 2022.
The project is shortlisted for the World Architecture Festival Awards in the Completed Buildings: Hotel and Leisure category.
