West Side Place has transformed the former Age newspaper site at 250 Spencer Street into the largest residential development in Melbourne to date. The Ritz-Carlton hotel, located atop tower one of the four tower development, will bring a new level of prestige to the Melbourne CBD, with a range of amenities including multiple foyers, business lounges, private function rooms, libraries, pools, gyms, and wellness centres.
Haymes Paint worked closely with Cottee Parker Architects to ensure the narrative at the heart of the design was properly expressed through the design choices. Through carefully balancing international hotel trends with an intrinsically Melbourne aesthetic, they were able to create a timeless outcome that is unique to the rich culture of the city.
Haymes Paints ‘Bloom’ in the shade ‘Rock salt’ was expertly applied in the hotel’s atrium, corridors, meeting rooms and ceilings to provide an organic finish that interacts with the robust concrete megaliths of the tower’s architecture in a sophisticated fashion.
The tonal variation of ‘Bloom’ works beautifully to soften the harsher materials used within the interior, providing a warm, earthy background for the stone and veneer wall linings that collage the common area of the hotel.
Bree Thomas from Cottee Parker explained that their decision to use ‘Bloom’ from Haymes Paints Artisan range in lieu of polished plaster came down to “the soft and subtle finish” of the surface paint which they felt conveyed the “classic luxury” of the Ritz-Carlton brand.
Bree credited the Haymes Paint team for working closely with the trades on site to ensure they were not only applying the product correctly but also evaluating the outcome.
Trades used a trowelled application method on the ceiling in Matt Polish and a rendered effect on one of the feature walls to create flecks of light and dark within the space that add depth and texture to the design outcome.
The carefully considered colours and textures work seamlessly to convey not only the history of the Ritz-Carlton brand, but also the culture and vibrancy at the heart of Melbourne’s CBD.
The Ritz-Carlton hotel will be open to the public in 2022.
Photographer: Tess Kelly Photography
Architect: Cottee Parker
Painter: DEC Group
