BOTANY DESIGN EXCELLENCE COMPETITION

A grounded corner, belonging to Waterloo, connected to the local community. An urban invitation to move beyond the Botany Road Corridor and step into the community of Waterloo. A gently rounded building marks the corner and guides guests to the calm tree-lined public space of John Street. A restrained civic form that is of the earth, shifts and turns towards a small civic space in response to the intensity of the busy traffic corridor. A hotel experience that offers a new perspective on Sydney. Connected to the city centre but grounded in the local culture of Redfern & Waterloo, guests have the opportunity to experience Sydney beyond the CBD and the harbour. A new building that embeds itself in Waterloo, part of the massive transition underway in the area, connects to the community and centres the unique Aboriginal history of Redfern & Waterloo. 
Splayed planning maximises outlook for hotel rooms, clear circulation with natural daylighting, consistent rooms types provide a simple structure, multiple gardens offer variety of recreation spaces. A rich, monolithic earth expression grounded in an endemic landscape that connects to the specific place of Waterloo and extends into a cohesive hotel experience that centres the unique Indigenous history of the community. A proprietary ceramic cladding system forms a rainscreen to the lightweight external walls, enabling rapid construction and an extremely high thermal efficiency building envelope. A combination of standard ceramic modules presents an elegant composition with variations in depth and proportion complementing the curved building form.