W Hotels returns to Australia

W Hotels, part of Marriott International, has re-entered the Australian market with the opening of W Brisbane. Owned by Shayher Group, the property overlooks the Brisbane River in South East Queensland, and delivers a mix of fast-paced urban style and modern design.

Featuring 312 guestrooms with views over South Bank and west towards Mount Coot-tha, as well as dining, bar, pool, spa and yoga facilities, W Brisbane is the first of three projects scheduled by W Hotels in the region, with plans to open in Melbourne and Sydney over the next two years.

The hotel’s overarching design theme, A River Dreaming, has been developed by Nic Graham & Associates and pays respect to the Dreaming of the Turrbal people, which sees the river as the giver of life. Combining the W brand’s DNA, site context and the overarching river theme, multidisciplinary practice Studio Ongarato has also created four Brisbane-inspired sub-narratives throughout: Native Allure, Tropical Eden, Brisvegas and Dark Paradise.

“Our first narrative-led hotel was the W Hong Kong back in 2010,” says co-founder Fabio Ongarato. “For W Brisbane, we deeply absorbed the Queensland vernacular to create our design narratives. We also looked at the W brand DNA, which is bold, witty and shows a lust for life. And we studied the context of the site – its physical, social and historical parameters.”

The Native Allure sub-narrative picks up on the keynote theme, A River Dreaming. Brisbane River and its surroundings have provided inspiration and nourishment for the ancestral Turrbal people for millennia. The river and its banks, abundant with changing native flora and fauna, inspired design motifs throughout the hotel.

Meanwhile, Queensland’s hot, humid climate informed the Tropical Eden theme used for the first-floor bar and across featured areas of the spa and treatment centre. Hyper-colourful and sculptural, the natural beauty of rain forests led to an organic graphic treatment featuring a jungle of sinuous lines.

“It’s important for design to tell meaningful stories that customers, users and guests can respond to. Defining and building a thematic framework is the first step for holistic and narrative-driven design to take shape. A brand foundation enhances a guest’s experience by encouraging them to become more aware and engaged with their environment. It offers a world within a world for experience hunters but ultimately it aims to engage, delight and transport.”

Elsewhere, the Dark Paradise theme – which can be found in the floor of the pool and bathroom ceilings – took cues from the deadly animals and insects native to the region, and sharply contrasts W’s stereotypically glitz style.