QT Hotels and Resorts has become one of Australia’s most loved and dynamic hotel brands.
QT Newcastle, housed within the heritage-listed, 113-year-old David Jones building, has a strong visual and design-led character.
Quirky elements, striking artwork, and custom graphics pay tribute to the hotel’s coastal surroundings.
The project’s interior designers, Nic Graham & Associates, are long-standing collaborators with Event Hospitality and Entertainment (EVT) and Richard Crookes Constructions on QT Hotels & Resorts properties across Australia.
In fact, from the opening of the first QT Hotel in Gold Coast in 2011, they have worked on ten properties across Australia and New Zealand.
Nic Graham & Associates has designed the hotel’s public areas and guest rooms.
They have delivered an intriguing lobby space with spectacular artworks sourced from Sydney-based art gallery Curatorial+Co to stunning guest rooms and a dazzling rooftop bar.
This visual feast celebrates and highlights the raw historical shell and layers of contemporary life within a city that’s undergoing significant revitalization.
Driving inspiration from the synthesis of the building location and history, connection to the coast, and vibrant young energy of the city itself, the Nic Graham & Associates design team – Nic Graham and Jessica Khoury – linked the city‘s urban renewal to the renewal of the Moon cycle.
And that is where the narrative started to evolve.
The moon, in its many forms, is represented throughout the design.
It’s a wonderful metaphor for ‘renewal’ and rebirth – here seen as the reinvigoration of a heritage building that preserves and respects the heritage spirit.
The moon, its crescent shapes, shadows, textures of craters, solar eclipses, and colours are featured throughout the hotel in various design elements emphasizing circular and spherical, pure beauty: from custom rugs, carpets, and textiles to artworks from Australian artists that bring an extra level of charm to the authentic, bold design.
The large, dramatic illuminated moon element sitting in an experimental spatial form that was built to cover a very large bulkhead is a striking piece that immediately draws guests’ eyes up in curiosity upon entering the lobby space.
The obvious local port industry, coal refinery, and marine theme were an inspiration for guest room design: colour blocking reflects coastal horizons and ship hulls and is complemented by juxtaposing textures, which together, create eclectic yet cocooning guest room interiors.
An intimate rooftop bar features a bespoke turquoise and green epoxy floor and mirrored ceiling with festive moonlights, exploring the light of the moon over Newcastle port.
Project Details
Completion Date – 2022
Building Levels – 9
Project Team
Interior Design
Nic Graham & Assoc.
Interior design studio Nic Graham & Assoc. was established by Nicholas Graham in 1998 in Sydney, Australia. The studio primarily focuses on hospitality, commercial and high-end residential projects.
Photography
Mark is an accredited professional photographer with Australia’s governing body the AIPP (Australian Institute of Professional Photography).
Photo Gallery
Click on a thumbnail image to enlarge.
Design © 2022 Nic Graham & Assoc. All Rights Reserved.| Images © 2022 Laneway Photo. All Rights Reserved.
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