marysville hotel [proposal]

redevelopment
new development concept

asked to join a tender bid to redevelop this significant part of marysville, it was our submission that the project should be principally about place making and that the new buildings and the site should anchor the town both physically and metaphorically
that the new work should have gravatis without overpowering or dominance, or worst still indifference to the nature of the community




to some degree this site and the series of buildings proposed needed to clearly echo the ethos of what the area has to offer
and to do so in a way that is cohesive, but not monolithic or out of scale with the aspirations of a rural township

our role as we saw it was to find the form and materiality to express this in a very subconscious way
to unlock the possibilities of the site
to find a unique and appropriate solution, searching for what is latent or already there in the project and responding to that directly







in this case we believe the over-riding contributor to the equation is the landscape

this reveals itself in the surrounding form of the mountains, with their giant stands of ash timber
as well as the plantings of deciduous trees and as expected in colder climates the european nature of local gardens, with the colour, texture and flavour that this also lends to the project
both the native and the imported have a role to play in settling the new works into their landscape



we noted that some important initiatives with respect to a direct reference to a mountain setting had already been taken by the municipality
this is represented in dealing with the essential elements of the township in a considered way ie; storm water traverses adjacent to the street, ensuring that even within the heart of the town there’s an appreciation of nature and an awareness that environment has shaped this place

reference to water is almost an apposite to that fire, and somehow symbolic in it’s difference or counterpoint, re-assuring and an active, life force

we also proffered examples of vernacular architecture such as mills, or mines or sheds or train bridges – literally to read the engineering or those leaps of faith and ingenuity within the design process that have enabled towns as far flung as marysville to exist
that the building/s proposed are aspirational on account of some trigger of human endeavour, rather than generic or sanitised




to be both on the one hand familiar and on another unexpected
that the architecture itself formulate the interiors and that they are not decorated per se, but a more honest reflection of a qualitative mountain experience, while at the same time allowing for a level of comfort required in accommodation

project design team
tim o’sullivan architect
sioux clark interior designer
cimone mcintosh graduate architect
sarah maginnis [then] student architect
assisted by nash sooranna graduate architect