The Melbourne iteration of boutique hotel chain QT has just opened. True to the QT brand, the hotel has been designed with a series of intimate, public quirky spaces designed by Nic Graham, filled with artwork from local artists set against a dark, bold colour palette. Shelley Indyk and team, architect and director of Indyk Architects is responsible for the design of each suite. Indyk also worked on QT Sydney, and QT Wellington. When it came to designing Melbourne, Indyk was seeking a smoother site-specific design functionality for each suite.

“We were looking always to open up the bathrooms like we had in QT Sydney,” explains Indyk. ” We created a sliding system there, but it was slightly different and a little heavy.” Indyk met with JEB at their headquarters in Hong Kong to develop a new solution that would suit the Melbourne site.

“We were actually looking for steel framed doors with a slightly more industrial, but styled solution,” Indyk continues. “We ended up developing some profiles in aluminium with JEB.” Using aluminium meant that that Indyk’s team wouldn’t have to face issues of water, rust, and galvanising steel not standing the test of time. “It was quite fine and elegant, we really liked it in the end.”

JEB worked with Indyk to develop different glass panels too – some were sandblasted, some etched, others clear and others mirrored.

“We did a lot of drawings, and they did a lot of drawings. It was a great collaborative process,” adds Indyk. “We were able to develop the language together making it slightly industrial but quite styled, quite elegant.”

This article is presented by JEB.