BEN BURROWS

BRIEF:

In an attempt to embrace the complexity of designing a small transitory space providing multiple functions for users, within another transition space, the project tasks the refurbishment of the former Cafe San Marco building on the riverside at South Bank, Brisbane into a Micro Hotel.

 

A Micro Hotel design will require the hotel room modules to be specifically informed by the intended user group requirements and the context of Southbank, Brisbane.  A lobby/kiosk space is needed to provide a means for clients to check into the hotel. A commercial facility that can service the hotel clients and possibly independent clientele also. This could be a facility providing food, beverages, wellness services or a service aligned to your own particular client brief. It must be economically viable.

 

The project requires the designer to undertake site, activity and spatial analysis of the existing building to allow the macro planning of the hotel building and also micro plan the hotel room module. Great sensitivity is needed to ensure that potential users of this hotel can engage with it with ease and that it acknowledges its location.

 

The building shell should be based on the plan provided for the Micro Hotel site; however, the client is happy to entertain the notion of changing current walls, windows and door openings if this can be justified. The concept of adding extra space above or below also will not be rejected if an appropriate rationale is provided and it works on the current site.

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RESPONSE:

A gap in the availability of affordable accommodation within close proximity to the Lady Cilento Children's Hospital was identified as an existing barrier and informed the user group and in turn the brief for this project.

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A decision to design a 'Family Hospice' hotel was made to provide facilities for families of terminally ill children of the hospital. This would provide accommodation for rural or non-local families in Brisbane while their child is receiving treatment or residing in palliative care.

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The hospice hotel would be an escape from the hospital that provides overnight contact time for child patients with their families. 

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The brief for the Hospice Hotel was created in recognising the multiplicity of offerings Southbank has for visitors, that potentially terminally ill children could not participate in. The design aims to not only incorporate the activities and services available in Southbank for healthy children but aims to abstract the unique spatial qualities to create a truely unique interior quality for the Micro-Hotel Family Hospice.