Pippies Hotel - Accomodation

Pippies Hotel
Location: Speers Point
Client: The Hunter Hotel Group
Date of Completion: 2023

Townships around Newcastle and the Central Coast are increasingly gaining in popularity as Sydneysiders explore their own ‘backyard’. The town of Speers Point, on the fringe of Newcastle, is starting to gain traction with its natural beauty. However, this endowment wasn’t matched with the type of accommodation that was available. Hence, client Hunter Hotel Group approached Fabric Architecture Studio to rejuvenate the Pippies Hotel, which last had a makeover in the 1980s. “It was extremely tired and not really attracting people looking for great accommodation at an affordable price,” says interior designer Xanthe Highfield, Head of Interiors at the practice.

With the brief to rework the hotel’s 18 rooms, the emphasis was on pleasure, a sense of fun and a degree of lightness that would capture the feel of Speers Point and the coastal environment.
Colour was a strong cue in the makeover with Highfield and her team selecting a pistachio green for the hotel passages and a series of neutrals for the rooms – from soft chalky whites through to clearer tones to add lightness. And rather than the heavy curtains that had been there for years, sheers and translucent curtains were installed. “We wanted to strengthen the connection to the balconies as well as to the broader views,” says Highfield.

New joinery was designed for each room – including tongue-and-groove bedheads that double as shelving for objects d’art and to display paintings. And instead of the former pendant lights hanging from the ceiling, there’s now strategically placed lighting behind and on the bedhead to illuminate each room. New bedside tables were added, along with a built-in timber dressing table, complete with an arched-shaped mirror that hovers above and below this table.
“When you’re designing a space such as a hotel room it’s important to have that element of surprise, something that makes you look twice,” says Highfield, pointing out the reflection of the bed from the lower portion of the mirror. The new bed linen, designed by coastal homewares company, Pony Rider, also transformed each roomfrom its former drab look. The bed covers, cushions and loose throws all feature a bold and graphic touch, but with a dose of informality reflecting the laidback nature of Pippies Hotel.

Highfield also took an innovative approach with the design of the wardrobe, opting for open shelves and space to hang clothing with leather handles. “People are looking for a point of difference when they stay in a hotel rather than in their own homes,” she adds. The bathrooms also required a major overhaul, needing something more contemporary than a printed shower screen curtain drawn across the bathroom. There’s now a well-defined separate glass-walled shower along with a new circular vanity that appears to ‘float’. And replacing the once sombre walls are matt subway tiles arranged vertically.
These tiles complement the terrazzo/porcelain wall and floor tiles. To add a sense of fluidity to the
bedroom, there’s also a curved mirror.

While Pippies Hotel feels like a new build, the secret according to Highfield is, “to keep it simple, create a few highlight moments and, most of all, have some fun with the design.”

Words: by Stephen Crafti
Photographer: Alex Mcintyre
Builder: Club Projects Newcastle