There is almost nothing rarer in Australian industry than intergenerational success amongst artisanal product manufacturers. Founded in 1945, Rob Gordon Australia is just such a rare beast.
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There is almost nothing rarer in Australian industry than intergenerational success amongst artisanal product manufacturers. Founded in 1945, Rob Gordon Australia is just such a rare beast.
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Helen and Dennis Smith supply Monster kitchen and bar with free range eggs. Their chickens live on their property 33km north of Temora in the Riverina region of NSW, around 200km from Canberra. Their 3000 hens strut and peck their way around their large property of wild grasses and old gum trees in the shadow of a mountain ridge, under the protective supervision of two very inquisitive and energetic cattle dogs.
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Lucy McRae by Lee Grant
Lucy McRae created the beautiful mirror behind the Hotel Hotel reception desk.
Her work is part of the Hotel Hotel Broached Commission. This piece takes inspiration from the Capitol Theatre in Melbourne, designed by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin.
Lucy’s works inhabit an artistic realm that straddles the worlds of sculpture, architecture, science and fashion design; manipulating the body’s natural structure to invent novel anatomical forms.
Sean McConnell with Buller and Basse by Lee Grant
Having a chef, such as Sean McConnell, an avid vegetable gardener and mushroom forager that thinks about food as a way of showcasing good ingredients pretty much ticks all our boxes right there as far as we’re concerned.
These loves of gardening and foraging are reflected in Sean’s very seasonal menus and his habit of working directly with the producers of the ingredients he prepares.
He thinks up foods that encourage sharing and thus shared experiences. The emphasis on sharing probably comes from Sean’s front of house experience (where the enjoyment of the food is first and foremost as opposed to the emphasis being on the dish itself as is often the case in back of house) and his, until now nomad lifestyle.
You can taste these loves at the Monster kitchen and bar.
Louis Berczi by Lee Grant
Louis Berczi made many of the custom designs for Hotel Hotel.
Berczi Copper Company provided the fabrication skills and perfectionism that delivered our editioned tables and stools designed by Don Cameron.
Berczi Copper Company’s work can also be found at the Commonwealth Bank in Martin Place, Sydney, and Parliament House, Canberra. A Google search, or an attempt to visit their website, will reveal only a few examples of the 40-year history this company has in refining and purveying great work in copper; an excellent example of how the artisan talent of Australia is known to only a few.
Having said all this, why is it that the best technical mechanists have the worst websites? There could be no greater example than the disparity between the quality of metal finishing work done by Louis Berczi and the experience of his one page website.
Adam Goodrum designed the concrete benches found around NewActon, the wooden bowls found in each hotel room, the stools and chairs and the feasting table found in the Monster kitchen and bar… Yes he has been a busy man.
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Al Stark by Lee Grant
Al Stark has worked on lots of aspects of Hotel Hotel. From the conceptual to the physical – original artworks (found in the public lounge, Monster kitchen and bar, in the rooms and in the Mosaic room to name a few), uniforms, sculptures and umbrellas… Not just a beautifully nostalgic illustrator, Al really thinks about spatial dimensions and how to fill them.
Operating outside of conventional art institutions, Al Stark’s artistic practice ranges from folk architecture, spatial design, film, wall painting, drawing, and gypsy tattooing… We could go on. His canvas to date has included public and private walls, a 60 metre lift shaft, intricately made masks, paper, leather, wood and bodies. His work forms a personal universe that explores gender politics, religion, and his explanation of the human psyche through text, the figurative and a heavy dose of abstract symbolism.
Kevin Billiau by Lee Grant
Kevin Billiau is the founder and principle of Allied French Polishers. He has worked on rescuing, restoring and polishing many of the vintage furniture pieces sourced by Don Cameron and Ken Neale for Hotel Hotel.
After many years working in Germany on major museum restorative work and installations, Kevin relocated to Sydney where his frame-making and polishing business has his team working on the most demanding interior projects and with leading dealers and designers.
Kris Coad by Lee Grant
Kris Coad is a ceramic artist living and working in Melbourne. She produces ceramic pieces for exhibition, a translucent porcelain tableware range for selected retail and pieces for commission, as is the case for her work for Hotel Hotel. For us she has made a range of plates, shallow bowls, beakers and condiment dishes from porcelain, Northcote clay and black clay for the Monster kitchen and bar.
Ken Neale has an encyclopedic mind on all 20th century classic design matters… And a wonderful but unexplainable understanding of how objects should be assembled. Ken has worked with Nectar Efkarpidis (Hotel Hotel founder and creative director) and Don Cameron in building the precise vision for the Hotel Hotel rooms and spaces.
Ken has a staggering collection of designer pieces, a super small portion of which is crammed into his famous 20th Century Modern store in Kings Cross, Sydney. Many Australian designers feature in his collection and this was a major emphasis in the specifications for Hotel Hotel – refurbishment of old Australian design classics by Kafka, Featherstone and others.
In true Ken form, he has no website, but here are the coordinates for his shop.