$38 million hotel set to land on top of Wynyard Walk
Canberra-based developer Doma Group has lodged plans for a $38 million hotel to be built in the airspace above the Wynyard Walk in the Sydney CBD.
The group secured the 99-year leasehold from the Transport for NSW last October. The state government has listed above-ground leases in the CBD and inner-city suburbs – part of a strategy to tap into demand for development sites in the city while cutting building costs for the government.
The future Little National Hotel at 26-38 Clarence Street will have direct undercover links to Wynyard Station and Barangaroo through the 180-metre Wynyard Walk pedestrian tunnel.
A library, bar and landscaped terrace are part of the plans for the rooftop area. Photo: © Bates Smart
With a total height of 55 metres, the hotel will span across 14 storeys, which includes a ground-floor lobby, reception, lounge, gym and back-of-house facilities on level two.
The 10 levels above that will be for 230 hotel rooms, with 23 rooms on each floor, and on the top floor, a double-height lounge, bar, library and rooftop terrace for hotel guests only.
Planning documents indicate that the hotel will pursue a “smart luxury” concept.
What the Wynyard Station Clarence Street entry looks like now. Image: ©2018 Google
Expect to see more over-station development in the next few years. Photo: © Bates Smart
Guy Lake, director of Bates Smart, which designed the initial scheme for Doma, said the relationship between public transport, busy public spaces and amenities was a natural fit.
“Train and metro stations act as city nodes that unite prime land with critical masses of people. Integrating them with other uses offers the potential to bring greater amenity to our cities,” Mr Lake said.
“Current record levels of investment in public transport in Sydney will provide a significant number of exciting opportunities for over-station development.”
The development will lift the existing gross floor area on the site from 252 square metres to 7187 square metres, with a floor plate of 732 square metres.
The hotel will have undercover access to Wynyard Station and Barangaroo. Photo: © Bates Smart
The structure will have a predominantly glass façade with curved corners, which nods to the art deco style of the heritage-listed Transport House across the road.
Slated to open in 2020, it will be Doma’s third Little National Hotel, after one in Canberra and another in Newcastle to open late 2019.
The developer is also spending $160 million on redeveloping the former Dickson Motor Registry site in Canberra into an office, residential and retail complex.
The Little National Hotel development application is on public exhibition until February 21.
