The EVE Hotel Sydney has revealed what guests can expect when the Harbour City’s newest boutique luxury hotel opens this summer in the new Wunderlich Lane lifestyle precinct.
Conceived by some of the country’s best design minds, The EVE Hotel Sydney has revealed what guests can expect when the Harbour City’s newest boutique luxury hotel experience opens this summer in the new Wunderlich Lane lifestyle precinct.
TOGA Group’s Allan Vidor has brought together forward-thinking Sydney creatives, SJB’s Adam Haddow, 360 Degree’s Daniel Baffsky and Interior Architect George Levissianis, whose designs are reflective of Sydney’s global city status, with influences from the local neighbourhood and abroad.
Allan says this talented trio have combined their design know-how to imagine spaces where hotel guests and visitors can immerse themselves in the art, cultural, and culinary offerings from the local community, with The EVE at the centre of the hospitality experience.
“TOGA has a particular expertise in conceiving and delivering mixed use precincts, and a passion for creating thoughtfully designed spaces,” Allan said. “And The EVE Hotel Sydney and Wunderlich Lane precinct bring together the best of Surry Hills and Redfern into one stylish destination.”
From the moment guests arrive at The EVE, they will be surrounded by style - from the immersive art-filled lobby bar with vaulted ceilings to a lush rooftop restaurant and bar with panoramic views over Surry Hills and Redfern.
An urban haven, The EVE features a rooftop space that is first and foremost a garden, paying homage to the precinct’s former life as one of the very first pleasure gardens established during the colonial Sydney era. Conceptualised by Surry Hills-based creative Daniel Baffsky from 360 Degrees, the landscape envelopes the space with beautiful, lush native planting and exotic palms that are in perfect synergy with the architecture.
The EVE’s 20m pool is set within the rooftop garden. Textural natural stone, accented retro-style umbrellas, bespoke cabanas and imported Sukabumi pool tiles complete the overall design aesthetic. Whilst the hotel’s all-weather rooftop restaurant and bar – a contemporary Mexican restaurant and mezcaleria helmed by Sydney-based, experience-led hospitality operators, Liquid & Larder – is designed to provide a sense of escapism for guests. Taking inspiration from Adam Haddow’s architectural palette, George Livissianis and his interiors team created a venue that maintains a sense of being outdoors.
“We wanted to create a space that felt like an external space - surrounded by planting and absorbed into it. The choice of sandblasted travertines, Palladiana flooring and an exposed concrete structure aims to create this sense of texture – of being outside and located in an urban context,” George said.
Red travertine sits at the core of Livissianis’ palette, and colour through the venue picks up on the variability of the stone - from ochre reds to brighter oranges - in tune with the Mexican food offering.
The Wunderlich Lane site was part of John Baptist’s nursery which once occupied most of East Redfern. Baptist was Portuguese and arrived in Sydney as a free man in 1829, opening his nursery in the early 1830s. The Gardens - 40 acres of nursery and market gardens on Bourke Street, Redfern - were a significant horticultural contribution to the colony as well as the first pleasure gardens. They gradually became the ‘show grounds of Sydney’ to which Sydneysiders flocked at weekends when they were open to the public.
On weekdays The Gardens had a more utilitarian value as market gardens, nursery-supplier of seeds, plants, shrubs, and trees of immense variety and a source of cut flowers. By 1860, according to the Sydney Mail, they had become ‘a horticultural institution within this city’ and ‘a popular resort for Sunday picnickers’. It was here that the John Baptist Fountain was first erected by the 1860s, although its artist and date of manufacture is unknown.
In the late 1800s, the site evolved into the Wunderlich Ltd factory. Established by Ernest and Alfred Wunderlich, the factory produced ornamental zinc panels, cornices and architectural products which had a wide-ranging impact on Sydney’s heritage architecture, such as the grand facades of the Government Bank in Martin Place and the pressed metal ceilings which can still be found in Sydney’s terrace homes to this day.
Sydney’s love of the great outdoors spills over this hotel, with meticulously crafted landscapes that have a symbiotic interaction with SJB’s architectural design. Baffsky’s sophisticated planting design combines native and exotic species in lush, bold arrangements that connect and reflect with the surrounds of the cosmopolitan city on its doorstep.
Baffsky’s landscaping extends beyond the hotel walls into Wunderlich Lane, a curated lifestyle precinct that acts as launchpad for discovering the best of Surry Hills and Redfern.
The EVE’s biophilic design features eye-catching curved balustrades peppered through a network of green spaces.
Climbing ivy, native and exotic shade species not only cools the site but invites interactions with nature. Here, Baffsky’s vision is to allow nature to take the lead to provide its own unique timelessness and, in a very natural evolution, blur the line between exterior and interiors spaces.
SJB has created 102 boutique hotel rooms that are both visually stunning and welcoming. For SJB Director, Adam Haddow, it was important to create a global hotel whilst ensuring the local identity was maintained.
As Adam says: “The design of the hotel is rooted in our understanding of place. It is earthy and grounded and grows from our belief that the hotel is equally about creating connection and providing reprieve.”
Sink into innovative comfort with our thoughtfully designed spaces, where every detail tells a story.
“This is a hotel that is rooted in its location but appeals to a global market,” said Haddow. “To that end, we’ve used local designers, craftsman, and fabrics that pick up the flora and fauna of Sydney and wider New South Wales.”
Unique features include the hand-crafted details of the glazed faience, bespoke lighting by Sydney designer, Henry Wilson, and an Australiana palette which provides rich tones.
“Every aspect of The EVE has been crafted to evoke a sense of style, sophistication, and comfort,” TFE Hotels’ CEO, Antony Ritch said. “From the unique architectural features to the meticulously designed interiors, we are looking to create a hospitality experience that is both visually stunning and welcoming for all.”
The generosity and integrity of the landscape and, in turn, its conversation with the architecture, are shown to best effect throughout the 102 boutique rooms and the rooftop garden, complete with restaurant and pool.
Throughout the hotel and wider precinct, beautifully designed spaces play host to an array of sophisticated culinary experiences, hosted by Australia’s finest food and beverage talent alongside boutique retail and health, wellness, beauty, and spa offerings.
Related Readings
The EVE Hotel Sydney new appointment ahead of summer opening
SJB-designed Eve Hotel Brings a Refreshingly Local Flavour to Inner City Sydney