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Maiden voyage: designing the inaugural Lanbruk apartment hotel

Maiden voyage: designing the inaugural Lanbruk apartment hotel

Phoenix Tapware
Phoenix Tapware
Articles & Features Case Studies

Interior design practice Zunica has designed the first Lanbruk Apartment Hotel, located in Richmond Hill, Melbourne, drawing on the area’s industrial heritage and the needs of business travellers.

Lanbruk Hotel

The Lanbruk Apartment Hotel Richmond Hill is the first venture into the hotel sector by the client, meaning there was no pre-existing ideas or design guidelines for what the new space needed to be. This was “an extremely exciting prospect” for Zunica as it provided the opportunity to work with the client from scratch to develop a solid brief and design concept.

“We worked hard to lead the design outcomes by bringing an experienced design services team together, from brand to art to furniture, fixtures and fittings [FFE] supply, to develop a strong and considered brand and spatial identity,” explains Andrew Zunica, founding principal of Zunica Design.

Lanbruk Hotel

The design team quickly identified a gap in the serviced accommodation sector for good quality, well designed spaces that offered affordable and convenient facilities for a cross section of travellers.

“We wanted to ensure the hotel was cleverly designed to maximise the tight site, that design solutions and interiors appealed to a broad cross section of the market and that we connected with the community and the location as much as possible,” adds Zunica.

The 26-apartment hotel development has a selection of studios, one bedroom and two-bedroom apartments spread over 7 levels. Like much of the studio’s work, the primary inspiration for a design is the surrounding location.

Lanbruk hotel kitchen

“The best accommodation spaces provide a connection to place, culture and the localised experience so we wanted to ensure that design decisions reflected the Richmond Hill precinct,” explains Zunica.

For this reason, Zunica connected the interior spaces to the area’s industrial heritage by expressing the build structure, exposing services, and emphasising building materials like steel and concrete.

The team also wanted to ensure the built interiors and the FFE solutions reflected the dynamic nature of Richmond, which is one of Melbourne’s oldest and most eclectic suburbs.

Lanbruk Hotel

“To do this, we delivered a custom designed FFE fit out, matched with local and international design driven pieces that reflect the area’s design culture. We were also very mindful of the guest experience, the reason for people visiting and the particular niche we wanted to carve out for the Lanbruk guest.”

Lanbruk Hotel

The rooms are light and bright, with a colour palette featuring sunny yellows and aquamarine greens.

For tapware, Zunica chose Phoenix’s ever popular Vivid Slimline collection in brushed nickel. “We really love the Vivid Slimline range. Our design aesthetic is simple, minimal and clean and this range responds perfectly to our approach,” says Zunica.

Lanbruk Hotel

“We love the way it adds quality and seamless operation into functional spaces, without overpowering the minimalist aesthetic of the kitchens and bathrooms. The brushed nickel finish was also selected to complement the industrial nature of the scheme, without making it feel overdone. The colour and tone of the finish is clean and seamless yet still provides a warmth, unlike chrome or harsher black or solid colour fittings.”

Explore the Vivid Slimline collection here.

Interior Design: Zunica
Architect: BG Architecture
Developer: Citiplan
Product: Vivid Slimline Sink Mixer, Vivid Slimline Basin Mixer
Photographer: Alex Reinders

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