2019 National Architecture Awards: National Award for Commercial Architecture

Jury citation

Paramount House Hotel breathes new life into a three-storey 1930s brick warehouse in Sydney’s Surry Hills. As part of the wider hospitality precinct within the historic Paramount Picture Studios headquarters, the project skilfully borrows its neighbour’s established facilities to maximize the hotel offering. Small but generous interventions at the street and in the foyer benefit the broader development.

Twenty-two hotel rooms occupy the original brick structure, while two-level loft rooms crown the top of the building behind a delicate copper veil. A bold yet sensitive addition to the heritage fabric, this chevron screen effectively mediates light to rooms and ensures privacy from neighbouring buildings.

Inside, Paramount House Hotel’s historic fabric is peeled away to reveal traces of time and function. Each room is uniquely characterful, with carefully selected Australian fittings and furnishings. Materials have been sourced locally for their low environmental impact and to complement the original building fabric; together, these qualities create an authentic, comfortable and inviting home away from home.

Paramount House Hotel is located in Surry Hills, New South Wales, and built on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation.

— Paramount House Hotel was reviewed by Tobias Horrocks in Artichoke 64. To read the review, go here.