This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
MELBOURNE'S landmark Hotel Windsor is set to undergo a $260 million redevelopment to modernise the 19th century grand hotel.
Owners Halim Group director Adipoetra Halim said the hotel cannot survive without a major improvement in facilities, services and space.
As part of the redevelopment, the exterior will be restored including the reinstatement of the Spring Street colonnade.
Halim will also build a new 25-level tower that acts as a “curtain” draped behind the original historic hotel building and the new corner building to replace the 1960’s north wing addition.
The ground level would be fully glazed with retractable openings, allowing al fresco dining and refreshments. The upper levels will include new banquet and function facilities, meeting rooms, guestrooms and an indoor pool.
The hotel will have an extra 152 rooms, bringing total accommodation to 332 rooms and suites.
The plans, prepared by architects Denton Corker Marshall, replace a previous submission for the renovation of the historic hotel. Refurbishment plans for The Hotel Windsor were previously approved by Heritage Victoria in March 2008.
Hotel Windsor CEO and general manager David Perry said the hotel was born during the Marvellous Melbourne period when this was one of the richest cities in the world.
“But today the old duchess looks tired and dowdy. To maintain relevance in the contemporary tourist market, she needs a modern makeover like some of the great other old hotels around the world.
“The Hotel Windsor was built just before the Ritz in London, the Ritz in Paris, the Waldorf Astoria in New York and Raffles in Singapore. But the Hotel Windsor had slipped behind these hotels because it had not expanded and adapted like the others,” he added.
He added that guest rooms are considered too small by modern standards.
“It had a magnificent past, but an uncertain future unless it was expanded and improved,” he continued.
The proposed renovation and re-development is subject to planning and financial approvals. Subject to these approvals, preliminary work is expected to begin in the last quarter of 2010.
Australian Property Journal
