A proposal for a new “high-end” hotel on Darwin’s waterfront, designed by Ashford Lamaya Architects, has been lodged for planning assessment. If approved, the development would take the place of an existing open-air car park adjacent to the new Larrakia Cultural Centre, designed by Rossi Architects and Susan Dugdale and Associates, which is currently under construction and is anticipated to open later this year.
Located on a 4,000-square-metre site at 39 Stokes Hill Road, the six-storey hotel proposal comprises 108 rooms – one half of which are proposed as one-bed suites and the other half proposed as two-bedroom suites – along with car parking, end-of-trip facilities and a rooftop communal recreation area. A two-storey office building on the site is intended to be retained, and a new public walkway along the harbour frontage is proposed to connect this building to the hotel and the cultural centre beyond.
The planning documents note that at 25 metres high – corresponding to the height of the Larrakia Cultural Centre – the hotel would have “uninterrupted 180-degree views across Darwin Harbour to the east and south-east.” However, plans by Pact Architecture for a new 10-storey hotel on an adjacent site neighbouring the Darwin Convention Centre were dropped by developer CEL Australia (previously SH Darwin) in December last year due to ongoing concerns from Traditional Owners that the hotel would overlook a sacred site.
At the time, Larrakia elder Bill Risk said, “Our sacred site at Stokes Hill Wharf has particular responsibility in looking out for Larrakia people … I worry about all our sites in the Darwin vicinity, in the harbour, in the rivers, Elizabeth River and across our country, which is the story of who we are and where we come from.”
In response to the developer’s decision to abandon that project, Northern Territory Treasurer Bill Yan had commented, “As a community, we need a balanced outcome that is sensitive to cultural concerns but also does not halt economic development and prosperity that would benefit all Territorians.”
The plans are on public exhibition until 26 June.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
