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The building was unloved and ignored by Sydneysiders for decades, but now the old Department of Education and Agriculture building near Circular Quay has a glamorous new life as a five-star hotel, The Capella Sydney.
The pool in Sydney’s new Capella Hotel.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
The heritage sandstone building was designed in 1912 by government architect George McRae. It occupies a prominent spot on Farrar Place, in what’s known as the “sandstone precinct” of government offices. And yet it was easy to walk past it without noticing it was there before the renovation drew attention to its gleaming “Department of Agriculture” signage.
But now the eye is drawn into the warmth of the building’s skylit lobby and corner 1930 Brasserie and the McRae bar, named after the architect. Sharply suited doormen and porters assist guests and people coming for a peek, or to dine in the lobby and brasserie.
The Capella and its sandstone facade.Credit: Timothy Kaye
No wonder they’re attracted – the golden facade is a showstopper. Historical details such as the red-marble walls and brass-framed directories have been polished, preserved and incorporated in the new design. It’s hard to imagine how anyone ignored this lovely building before and why it was shuttered for so long.
The Capella Sydney joins a collection of hotels worldwide that have restored former public buildings, retaining their classic architectural features while imaginatively transforming them into modern, functional spaces to dine, spa and sleep.
Hotel groups have long revived old hotels, lodges and manor houses, returning them to former glory. But transforming a public building that has had a purpose other than accommodation requires vision, lots of money and in most cases partnerships between developers, hoteliers and government agencies. The Capella project took seven years – often they take longer.
The brand-new Peninsula Istanbul, which occupies three landmark port buildings on the Bosphorus at Galataport, similarly took about eight years to realise.
I’m full of admiration for these projects when they’re done sensitively. I love that they’re preserving part of the history of a city and they’re making use of something solid and well-built rather than pulling it down, while recycling the building’s valuable materials, such as timber, stone, marble and rare metals.
I also love the grandeur of these buildings. The Kimpton Margot in Sydney (formerly the Primus) occupies the former Sydney Water Head Office on Pitt Street, a heritage listed building dating from 1939.
It’s considered the most important institutional Art Deco building in Sydney, and it’s spectacular – with its enormous pink scagliola columns on the ground floor, dramatic travazzo and travertine floor and wall surfaces, curved windows, and bas relief murals.
No longer somewhere where you go to sort out your water bill, it has been made accessible with furniture, a café and bar and a Luke Mangan brasserie spilling into the foyer, but it will never be anything other than a completely unique space.
Disused post offices, banks, town halls, department stores and railway stations are coveted spaces for hotels. The Singapore-based Fullerton group’s landmark hotel is in the old post office, a colonnaded building that is still a lively place for Singaporeans to meet. It was an obvious move for the company to take over Sydney’s old GPO on Martin Place when the Westin vacated it.
I recently stayed at Hôtel Madame Rêve, in Paris, which is a reimagining of the old Bourse post office that turned the downstairs dispatch area into a ritzy restaurant and bar and carries the post office theme through the hotel in postal art on the walls and bespoke rugs emblazoned with stamps and telegraph messages on the floors.
In Perth, Como The Treasury occupies a group of historical State offices, including a town hall, treasury and post office. The Tasman in Hobart was once the Lands and Mines Department.
The Ned London is in an old bank. The Ace LA is in the United Artists building in Hollywood. Paramount House Sydney is also in old film company headquarters. The Town Hall Bethnal Green, London, is in the old town hall (no surprises there.) Cheval Blanc Paris revamped part of the Samaritaine department store and turned it into high-end hotel suites and apartments.
And then there’s the nostalgic aspect – The Treasury on Collins in Melbourne occupies part of the old treasury building where my grandfather worked.
It’s kind of the Reuse, Rescue and Recycle of the hotel world. And I love it.
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