FEATURES: HOSPITALITY
Wowing at the W
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AV technology in the WOW Suite blends in natively within the interior design
Melbourne can now proudly offer a W Hotel, befitting its status as a city that serves up a big slice of cool along with its hospitality. Richard Lawn (virtually) explores W Hotel Melbourne HAVING BEEN VOTED THE WORLD’S MOST LIVEABLE CITY for seven consecutive years by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Melbourne has a great deal to offer the discerning tourist. With riotous graffiti, an extensive arts scene, iconic laneways, fine cuisine, wineries and barista coffee on both banks of the Yarra River, exploring Melbs can prove to be an exhausting mission for the jetlagged tourist. Having crossed multiple time zones to reach this destination some 38° south of the equator, well-heeled visitors demand the finest hotels for their stay. When the investors of the Collins Arch development broke a block of ground close to the iconic Flinders Street station, a heavy gauntlet was laid down to the architect, various building contractors and of course the AV consultant. On behalf of its client Cbus Properties, Multiplex commenced construction on Melbourne’s newest landmark in 2016. Designed by SHoP Architects and Woods Bagot, the mixed-use development’s two 39-level towers are linked by an eight-storey skybridge spanning 14m. In addition to 49,000m2 of office space and 202 residential apartments, a new luxury hotel beckons at 408 Flinders Lane. Owned by Marriot International, W Hotel Melbourne comprises 294 rooms and 29 suites across 15 levels and finally opened its doors in January 2021. Specialising in AV, building technology, communications and videoconferencing, CHW Consulting was commissioned to oversee the AV design of the Collins Arch in April 2017. During an almost four-year intermission between conception and commissioning, CHW Consulting was rebranded as UT Consulting. Responsible for managing the hospitality portfolio at UT Consulting, partner Vivek Arya has been associated with many prestigious hotel properties in Australia. Accordingly, he headed up the UT Consulting team, overseeing the design, documentation and coordination of the technology package at the W Hotel Melbourne.
UT Consulting partner Vivek Arya
hotel chains possess unique traits, but generally stay well within their branded comfort zone. The W goes well beyond this mark.” From the lobby entrance to the 15th level WOW Suites, Hachem both demanded and inspired UT Consulting to deliver its best technological designs to date, charging the company with meticulously handcrafting each room to provide the seamless experience it had envisaged. Together with UT Consulting, the architect, interior designer and services engineer formed a technological design group that would meet regularly. “There were a substantial amount of resources and effort required to draw all of the elements together in a cohesive manner,” explains Arya. “Constant drawing iterations would follow the meetings. For a normal hotel project, that heavy, intense period lasts for a few weeks or months perhaps. For the W, however, it persisted for the best part of three years. From an AV perspective, we were presented with two main challenges. Firstly, the installed technology had to be concealed so as to not interrupt the flow of the space and, secondly, it simply had to work without failure or delay in operation.”
From the outset, Arya realised that the W would be very different. “The aspirations of the architect Hachem exceeded any luxury hotel I had previously worked on,” he comments. “CHW worked on the Mandarin Oriental in Melbourne, which was not your run-of-the-mill hotel with detailed design features. If you could categorise it like a whisky, it would fall into the Johnny Walker Blue Label top-shelf bracket. Following on, the W ambitiously wanted to establish itself in Melbourne by positioning itself on that same top shelf, offering a next level of luxury for expectant guests.” Upon entering the lobby, Hachem conceptualised a sensory experience like no other by blending modern luxury with bold individuality in which ambiance, artwork, lighting and music all play their part. “We had to fully envisage this luxurious setting that respects Melbourne as a culture,” continues Arya, highlighting the floor-to-painted-ceiling artwork. “Other
UT Consulting’s Elena Shchuchkina
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