A convenient and meticulously crafted hotel experience

Little National Hotel

The Little National offers everything that’s needed—and nothing that’s not—to create a hotel that’s unique in structure, architecture and hospitality offer.

Rising 12 storeys, the Little National hotel sits on a tight 800sqm site located directly over Wynyard Walk. The project brief called for a restrained, efficient design that seamlessly integrates architecture and interiors. Instead of acting as an end destination, the hotel’s design needed to generate a full city experience, where guests feel as if they’re part of the CBD. The small site footprint became the key element that unlocks this experience; it required precise planning, with every millimetre carefully allocated and optimised.

This planning begins with the hotel’s lightweight steel structure and Level 2 structural transfer, which enables the building to span the full width of the Wynyard Walk building. The building form has been carefully shaped to sit comfortably within the existing streetscape. The upper level setback maintains a consistent street wall height to Clarence Street, the hotel’s street address, while the overall building height matches the heritage listed Transport House to the east. Level 2 is recessed to visually separate the hotel from the existing podium. The curved northwest and southwest corners complement the site geometry and create visual separation from neighbouring buildings to enhance views up and down the street.

Horizontal curved projections wrap the curve of the northern and western facades, providing sunshading and privacy from street activity. Recessed metal verticals frame the individual picture windows. The design team chose a metallic copper colour for both systems to add warmth to the facades. On the eastern façade, a detached steel frame screen, composed of horizontal metal louvres and planters, softens the harsh urban laneway in front of Transport House and adds privacy.

Guests enter the hotel from Clarence Street via a small ground level lobby that is visible from the Wynyard Station escalators. An oversized copper clad door and undulating ceiling installation of lights and plantings draw guests through to the lifts that rise to a streamlined level 2 reception, designed to facilitate an efficient check-in. Above, 230 rooms are located over 10 naturally lit, typical floors. All rooms measure 18 sqm and their layouts are identical, notwithstanding accessible rooms in the northwest corner.

The centrepiece of the room is a wooden framed king-sized bed that sits in a picture window; the bed and window occupy the full width and height of the room to add luxury, extend the sense of space and bring the city inside. An integrated desk and wardrobe streamline storage and workspace and minimise floor area occupancy to further open up the room.

True to design intent, the hotel forgoes an in-house restaurant and instead offers one of Sydney’s only CBD hotel rooftops. A steel and glass volume accommodates a library with workspaces, bar and lounge. A deck wraps the space and offers direct, close-up views of the surrounding buildings and down toward Circular Quay and Barangaroo, immersing guests in the city.

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Details

Client

Doma Group

Location

Sydney | Gadigal Country, Australia

Year

2020

Status

Completed

Area

7,135 sqm

Awards

Photography

Felix Mooneeram, Anson Smart