Ace Hotel Sydney by Flack Studio
Set to become a leading hotel destination, Ace Hotel Sydney, designed by Flack Studio, draws inspiration from the Australian desert, complete with a permanent art program which nurtures emerging local artists.
Words: Hande Renshaw I Photography: Anson Smart
The Lobby: a cocktail bar and lounge with a wine menu curated by Mike Bennie of P&V Wine + Liquor Merchants. Photo: Anson Smart
In the lobby you’ll find glazed brick-work by James Lemon and a ceramic library, a nod to the building’s former life as a kiln. Photo: Anson Smart
The first southern hemisphere hotel from the Ace Hotel Group has now opened in Surry Hills in Sydney – and it’s pretty spectacular.
Housed in the historic Tyne Building, the site of one of Australia’s first ceramic kilns, the 257-room hotel is a legacy to brick and the ever-evolving beauty of Australiana.
The unbelievably stylish interior can be attributed to Flack Studio, who anchored their inspiration in architect Robin Boyd’s The Australian Ugliness, as well as a landscape painting by Indigenous Australian artist Albert Namatjira.
The hotel seamlessly weaves in design references to the past and present, showcasing an extensive art program, which includes works of all sizes by some of Australia’s most daring upcoming artists.
There will be a permanent art program — including pieces by Tony Albert, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Nadia Hernández, James Lemon and many others , which will be complemented by an artist-in-residence program curated by Nina Fitzgerald of The Impact Lab, a team of social change makers who have partnered with Ace to spotlight and celebrate First Nations artists, stories and histories.
True to design form, Flack Studio has focused on layers of colour and texture throughout the spaces. Materiality throughout speaks to Sydney’s landscape and natural resources: terracotta tiles in the guest rooms, sandstone feature walls on the ground floor and an ochre-red marble staircase leading from the ground floor to level one.
The lobby features merch so that you can take a little piece of Ace Hotel home with you - think record players, custom robes, blankets and more. Photo: Anson Smart
The 257 hotel rooms are kitted out with guitars and in-room vinyl collections. Photo: Anson Smart
Design details in the hotel rooms, which feel like home. Photo: Anson Smart
The Australian landscape inspirations are echoed in the bathrooms via grassy greens, warm oranges and muted browns. Photo: Anson Smart
Draw yourself a long bath, pop some vinyl on the turntable and put on a Deiji Studios x Jason Phu custom-made bathrobe – heaven. Photo: Anson Smart
“The hotel seamlessly weaves its nods to the past and present into modern flourishes, showcasing an extensive art program, which includes works of all sizes by some of Australia’s most daring upcoming artists.”
The carefully considered colour palette includes warm ochres, terracottas and sunset orange with pops of eucalyptus green and deep plum. Photo: Anson Smart
The vinyl collections in the rooms were painstakingly curated by Michael Kucyk of Melbourne-based record label Efficient Space. Photo: Anson Smart
Standing tall at 18 storeys high, the 257 hotel rooms are kitted out with guitars, in-room vinyl collections and custom robes designed by Deiji Studios x Jason Phu – a firm focus within the rooms was on a residential and cosy feel. Each detail was carefully considered, using a colour palette of warm ochres, terracottas and sunset orange, designed to envelop the guest and offer a refuge to the urban environment outside.
Nearly all the furniture and lighting in the hotel has been custom-designed by Flack Studio and their collaborators – from the banquette seating in LOAM (a sister location to the restaurant at Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles) to the bar stools in the lobby and the sconces placed throughout the ground floor.
Woven into the custom designs by Flack Studio include modernist designs: lighting by Isamu Noguchi, a Tobia Scarpa Nuvola lamp framing The Lobby bar and a selection of vintage chairs scattered around the hotel interior.
In keeping with the building’s heritage design, the materials used are raw yet refined – armchairs and stools of oak accented with green velvet or black leather, marble tabletops and linen lamp shades.
Still to come on the upper level is KILN, a rooftop bar designed by Fiona Lynch—an addition sorely needed to Sydney’s cityscape. While it won’t be open till August, the downstairs bar LOAM is now open to the public, so if you’re not staying at the Ace, you don’t need to miss out.
Along the hotel’s laneway entrance is Good Chemistry, a day-to-night cafe and bar that opens fully onto the laneway. A nod to the building’s past life as a Soul Pattinson factory, you’ll find a huge restored safe in the same ground floor space, next to the vintage photo booth. We can’t wait to visit!
The hotel room bathrooms include Deiji Studios x Jason Phu custom-made bathrobes. Photo: Anson Smart
Hotel room details include homely details such as guitars and in-room vinyl collections. Photo: Anson Smart
