The Old Clare Hotel is part of a wider development happening in Kensington Street, Chippendale and across the old Carlton Brewery site which now features several new apartment buildings, the most famous of which are the Jean Nouvel Central Park apartment buildings with vertical green facades by Patrick Blanc. In Kensington Street itself, several of the existing buildings – some of them heritage – have been retained, providing a layering effect of old and new, bringing the area a richness in texture, typology and a variety of form that is a pleasure to inhabit. The incredible Spice Alley – a Shanghai-style eating laneway designed by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer – is part of the charm of the precinct but I will save that project for another post.
Sydney-based architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer are also behind the design of The Old Clare Hotel, transforming what was a run-down, if charming, old pub and the Carlton and United Breweries Administration Building into a boutique hotel and bar. The character of these existing heritage buildings has been retained and additional architectural elements are distinctive but unintrusive. For example, the glass structure that links the two buildings touch the buildings lightly, instead allowing the existing brick facades to dominate the space, while the glass forms an uneven grid-like geometry that ties in with the layering of the surrounds.
The bar – which used to be a grungy student hang-out – has again retained some of the character of the original with existing scruffy finishes overlaid with a new layer of retro cool – including curved glass panels in shades of yellow and orange that clad the bar above and below to create a sculptural form, while new furniture and carpet also bring the previously daggy existing tiles into the present.
The hotel lobby features the same yellow and orange glass for its reception desk, with a light strip curving above to add to a sense of motion and dynamism, while old posters have been pasted up, creating a retro, chaotic design that is at the same time controlled and understated.
Upstairs, the roof terrace features a pool and an opportunity to admire the buildings of the precinct as they pop up, while enjoying a cool drink in a hot evening. A welcome addition to the Sydney pub scene – neither in the CBD nor in the suburbs, the Old Clare is thoughtfully considered, a crafted environment that reflects some of the heritage of old Sydney while at the same time being completely new.
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