The EVE Hotel Sydney is set to become a favourite for design-conscious creatives, travellers and locals alike, situated in a central area of inner-city Sydney. Developed by TOGA Group and designed by SJB, the boutique luxury hotel is the final addition to the Wunderlich Lane Precinct, situated just 20 minutes from the airport and ten minutes from the CBD.

The design inspiration from the team at SJB consciously leans into the local scene by embracing the Australian landscape and celebrating uniquely local experiences. Custom sculptural lighting by Australian designer, Henry Wilson, for example, speaks to the touches of local craft to be found throughout the project.

“Our design philosophy for The EVE is to create a space that supports local designers and artisans whilst rooting the hotel contextually by drawing inspiration from the surrounding forms and Australiana palette of Sydney,” says Charlotte Wilson, Co-Lead of SJB’s Sydney interior design team. “The hotel features rich handcrafted layers of ceramics, fabrics and continuous views to nature – this hotel is set to breathe new life into how we design locally.”

Situated at a busy intersection, this is a site at the heart of Sydney’s most creative inner suburbs. The entrance, however, allows for some quiet as visitors step into a secluded world full of sumptuous colour and materiality. With Bar Julius on one side, the entry threshold provides a transitional space between the hustle and bustle of Surry Hills and Redfern, instead reaching a calming lobby defined by natural stone and bespoke glazed terracotta. The hotel wraps around a central courtyard offering views of greenery, while bright rendered walls and white glazed breezeblocks add texture and lightness.

As guests move through the communal spaces, they transition from open, spacious areas to more secluded, cloistered corridors inspired by timeless civic architecture. SJB’s approach here creates moments of expansion and compression throughout the hotel, providing a journey that walks a line between serenity and quiet on one hand, and vibrant communal areas on the other.

The hotel comprises 102 guest rooms offering an Australian palette of either eucalyptus or red clay tones. Notably, each room boasts a private balcony with the aim of facilitating a connection to the outdoors and providing natural ventilation.

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Moving up to the top of the building, a rooftop bar and pool complete the luxury offerings for the hotel. Externally, the hotel finds expression in relation to the brickwork of the surrounding buildings of Wunderlich Lane, including some very special and distinctively SJB-style curves.

SJB Director, Adam Haddow, comments: “The EVE is the missing piece of urban fabric in the area – a local stay that’s uniquely of its place which will, in turn, provide much-needed support for the surrounding local businesses on Crown and Cleveland Streets, and more broadly, the surrounding suburbs of Redfern, Waterloo and Surry Hills. We’re immensely proud of this project, both from a design perspective and for the good it will do for the surrounding community.”

SJB
www.sjb.com.au

Photography
Anson Smart

Styling
Joseph Gardner

Remembering back to the INDESIGN #91 party with Guest Editor, Adam Haddow