CELLULOID HERO A new hotel situated in the former headquarters for Paramount Picture Studios injects some local f lavour into Sydney’s hospitality scene
A new hotel situated in the former HQ for Paramount Pictures Studios injects some local flavour into Sydney’s hospitality scene.
“When you wake up here, you couldn’t be anywhere else in the world” — RUSSELL BEARD, CO-OWNER
Where the fuck am I?’” exclaims Mark Dundon, recalling the time he woke up in a hotel room somewhere in America’s Midwest. “I looked around the room and there were no hints.” It’s one of the experiences that drove Dundon, the owner of Paramount Coffee Project, to develop Sydney’s new Paramount House Hotel. “It was about this place having a personality and an interaction with its urban environment.” Located in Surry Hills, within the former Paramount Pictures Studios building, the hotel is co-founded by Reuben Hills cafe’s Russell Beard and property investor Ping Jin Ng, and it couldn’t have more of a sense of place. “The hotel needed to add to the life of Paramount House and to life on the street,” says architect Jeremy McLeod, the director of Breathe Architecture, who managed the project. Within one building is sumptuous basement venue the Golden Age Cinema and Bar; the famed Paramount Coffee Project cafe (occupied by a farmers’ market every Saturday); Ester restaurant spin-off, Poly; and a world-class boutique hotel.
“It’s not traditional,” says Beard. Adds Dundon: “It’s a considered approach to the neighbourhood with a really local focus. Whether it’s furniture or the snack bar, it ties you back into Sydney.” He’s talking about what might well be the world’s best minibar — charcuterie made by Sydney’s feted LP’s Quality Meats alongside locally brewed beers by Yulli’s Brews. You enter through the cafe and immediately connect to local life. At the back of the space is a reception, although you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a bar. Set out in poured concrete, in-built taps accommodate sour beer, kombucha or natural wine, depending on the day. Swished up in a flash, you are taken through a small door into the next building and the hotel proper, Paramount Studios’ former film storage warehouse. Throughout the hotel, past and present are expertly brought together. “The conceptual approach was about marrying the artefact and the ornament,” says Jeremy McLeod. “It was about expressing everything that was old — and true and honest and raw — about the existing warehouse.” Each of the rooms nods to the building’s history. “Columns appear in different locations within the suites, while building details and artefacts found on the site have been celebrated,” says McLeod. “Some express the patina of brickwork and the historic brick parapet or reveal remnants of stairwells that once existed.” All of the 29 rooms have been fitted with lush Jardan furniture and vintage pieces; soft, dusky-toned Cultiver linen on the beds; brass detailing; and nooks in which to read or work. The flooring is reclaimed timber, dressed with floor coverings from Loom Rugs. Breathe Architecture also built an extra layer onto the top of the building — a striking, perforated copper crown that screens the rooms from the outside while affording them shaded balcony spaces to connect them to it. Many of the rooms — there are four different styles of accommodation — are split over two levels, with pared-back roof areas for sleeping and Japanese-style timber baths made by hand in Coffs Harbour. “Four years ago, it was very difficult to suggest somewhere to stay in Sydney — the hotel landscape in Australia was dominated by chains,” explains Dundon. However, now three Sydneyphiles have reimagined a place that reflects their own tastes. “Ultimately, you can only build a hotel for yourself,” says Beard. “When you wake up here, you really couldn’t be anywhere else in the world.” Paramount House Hotel, 80 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills; (02) 9211 1222; paramounthousehotel.com
this page: The living area of a Loft room, with a tapestry artwork from China Heights gallery. opposite page, clockwise from top left: Paramount House Hotel’s reception. The Sunny rooms come with a daybed and play up the character of the heritage-listed building. A Mack Daddy bathroom, with timber bath. Aēsop products and Worktones robes feature in the bathrooms.