Metropol feels like boutique hotel, despite its size

THE Crown Metropol by Bates Smart demonstrates what can be achieved when the same practice delivers both the architecture and interiors.

Rather than responding to two separate briefs, there's a holistic approach to the project. "The height of the window sills were as paramount as the furniture and art we selected," says interior designer Jeffery Copolov, director of Bates Smart, who worked closely with interior designer Kendra Pinkus, associate director.

"There was a team of designers working on this project; from industrial designers sourced locally to carpet designers and manufacturers from the States."

With access from Whiteman Street, the Crown Metropol's black glass tower creates a sinuous, almost sensual form at Southbank. "It's deliberately quite seductive. It's high-end glamour," says Copolov, whose brief was to attract the leisure market on weekends and executives during the week.

In keeping with the building's impressive curvaceous facade is the ground-level lobby. Complete with a liquid-like staircase, the lobby features an array of impressive art and sculpture by local and international artists. Bates Smart wanted to create the sense of a boutique hotel in the relatively large building, which has 658 guest rooms.

"We wanted to create a strong tactile feel, a sense of the handmade," says Pinkus.

In response, timbers used for joinery, such as American white ash, are sandblasted to reveal their grain. Customised ceramic tables allow patrons to run their fingers over bubbled surfaces. Even the soft furnishings, including Patricia Urquiola's "smock chairs", were chosen for their tactility.

Home to celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's restaurant Maze, the Metropol has everything from opulent pool facilities to spa treatments and even a nail salon.

The swimming pool on level 27, surrounded by chaise lounges, offers dramatic views of Melbourne's skyline. Giant lanterns (seven metres in length and two metres in width) next to the pool and spa were inspired by George Nelson's postwar lighting. These Lycra-clad sculptures illustrate the lengths Bates Smart went to to create the bespoke. "The fabric had to be resistant to mildew, as well as capable of stretching over the steel frames," says Copolov.

Bates Smart's S-shaped building solves the usual problem of endless rooms off endless shotgun corridors.

Like a boutique hotel, each room is finished as though every item were hand selected, with paintings from David Band and Fraser Taylor and objects sourced from Australia and abroad.

Those with sufficiently deep pockets can stay at the "apartment", located on the top floor.

It is filled with an eclectic mix of objects and furnishings, and being there is like staying at a friend's apartment. Complete with glamorous dining room and generous walk-in dressing area, it's the epitome of indulgence.

"The design appears quite spontaneous, but we were after quite specific things," says Pinkus, pointing out the books covered in black linen, many of which are embossed in gold leaf.

Like the 18th floor of the Standard Hotel in New York, one of the most coveted spaces at the Crown Metropol is found on the 28th floor.

Featuring a lounge with a free-standing fireplace and wrap-around balcony, it's an idyllic place to contemplate the day past and prepare for the day ahead.

"It is a large hotel, but that doesn't mean it should be generic. This hotel is bespoke, just on a considerably larger scale," adds Copolov.

We are risk-averse. You have to work hard for each project to put debt in place.

SIMON STOCKFELD

Charter Hall

Overall we are moving very slowly in terms of certification in planning

MAUREEN JACKSON

Davis Langdon

Its deliberately quite seductive. Its high-end glamour.

JEFFERY COPOLOV

Bates Smart

The prospect of continued significant building cost rises through 2010 and into 2011 is increasing

ANDREW WILSON

Davis Langdon