Innovative services design facilitates grand hotel in Sydney’s heritage district

Sandstone Buildings

When Pontiac Land Group wanted to transform two heritage buildings into a hotel, they called on our team and our integrated and sympathetic design approach to revitalize these beautiful buildings in central Sydney. Our challenge? To meet the complex hotel requirements whilst minimizing impact on the architecture and facade of the two structures—which extend over two blocks and are linked by an underground tunnel.

Limiting construction impact and excavation allowed for many of the heritage features to remain intact both internally and externally. Also, we negotiated with the authority for the power supply to be provided from adjacent buildings and investigated to determine where existing water, sewer, stormwater, and gas connections could be reused.

Our mechanical design connects to a centralized system through the services tunnel, and the fire protection system is serviced via a single, shared water and boosting source. The acoustic treatment of services was tailored around the architecture to achieve performance and comfort targets, and our lighting scheme celebrates the beautiful features in circulation areas. Our teams also contributed electrical, hydraulics, environmental, social, and governance (ESG), and fire engineering services.

The newest redevelopment and addition to Sydney’s CBD, Capella Sydney, boasts luxury amenities including a pool, spa, ground floor bar, ballroom, restaurants, and guest accommodation. The historic Education building is the first of the two buildings to be completed within the precinct, and the second—the Lands Building—is estimated to be completed by January 2026.