The Mondrian hotel brand that invigorated West Hollywood back in 1996 has arrived in Australia. Joining luxury residential brands around the world, Mondrian’s landmark towers designed by multiple award-winning architects Elenberg Fraser will be the first hotel-branded residence on the Gold Coast when they open later this year, and Space Atelier's first project with the brand.
Mondrian’s new development on the beach in Burleigh Heads will fulfil the long-term vision of Vitale Projects to create a premier destination with luxury-branded apartments and offering all the benefits of the hotel brand’s extensive amenities and services. The hotel residence concept that shook up traditional residential models around the world, will be a first for Queensland and an opportunity for the Gold Coast to connect with a growing group of design and service-savvy Mondrian residences in Seoul and London, and soon the Maldives, Puerto Rico, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The growing market for ‘effortless luxury living’ began in New York in the mid-2000s when Ian Schrager splashed onto the hospitality scene with the Mondrian that turned hotels into meccas of design. Interiors became luxurious destinations designed by Andrée Putman, Philippe Starck and John Pawson: each hotel’s design credentials matched only by the level of service that was the ultimate in cool, connected to all the exciting things that city’s offer. Then, when Schrager launched the 50 Gramercy Park North apartments (and his new entity the Ian Schrager Company), with one stroke he created a new kind of living experience that channeled the hotel baron’s know-how into a residential hybrid described as ‘embracing the pleasures of New York’s inimitable lifestyle, without the worries, hassles and inconveniences that are so often the price of it.’
In Australia, Mondrian is the newest hotel-branded residential project to join the luxury international trend that up until now, included only a handful of local projects. One Barangaroo was Sydney’s first and was designed by New York-based practice Meyer-Davis whose projects include The Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton. The designers were engaged to design interiors that were rich in detail and fully integrated within Crown, with everything from room service to spa facilities, and all the luxuries available to hotel guests staying at Crown Resorts.
‘In the last few years we have seen our brands collaborate on large hotel projects around the world,’ explains David Hartikainen, Head of Interiors and Business Development at Space Furniture, who worked closely on many of the residential interiors of One Barangaroo. ‘Like the Bvlgari Hotels and Resorts in Milan and Bali, the Aman Resorts in Venice and the Mondrian Doha in the Middle East designed by Marcel Wanders. As brands and designers move into the hospitality market, you can see residential and hotel interiors becoming more and more aligned.’
‘It has been our long-term vision to develop a premier beachfront destination and residential address along the Gold Coast... this partnership allows us to bring the services, style and strengths of the Mondrian brand to guests and residents of our community, setting a whole new benchmark for service and hospitality on the Gold Coast.’
Chris Vitale, Projects Director, Vitale
That alignment has fostered the development of Space Atelier which provides clients with a bespoke interior service as an extension of the furniture offering. Working closely with residents at One Barangaroo and now Mondrian, the dedicated design team draws from the Space collection to personalise each interior, while offering a complete interior solution too, right down to the cutlery, the sheets and the in-house logistics management.
‘Mondrian at Burleigh Heads is setting a new benchmark for branded residential living and I think the Mondrian team, and their new residents, have found a real synchronicity with the Space Atelier team,’ continues Hartikainen. ‘Between client-centred interiors that draw from our extensive catalogue and the relationships we have with the worlds best product designers, to Mondrian’s high-level architecture and finishing details, it is a real privilege to be asked to collaborate with a brand focused on creating the highest quality interiors and buyers who understand the importance of design and how it can enrich your life.’
‘Mondrian at Burleigh Heads is setting a new benchmark for branded residential living and I think the Mondrian team, and their new residents, have found a real synchronicity with the Space Atelier team... It is a real privilege to be asked to collaborate with a brand focused on creating the highest quality interiors and their buyers who understand the importance of design and how it can enrich your life.’
David Hartikainen, Head of Interiors and Business Development, Space Furniture
Mondrian’s residential and adjacent hotel tower will open at the end of 2023 along one of Queensland’s famous surf breaks. The apartments designed by the Melbourne architecture studio Elenberg Fraser, will integrate world-class facilities within a striking form of classical archways at street level, two shimmering glass towers above, and layered gardens that look out to the Pacific Ocean and across to Burleigh Head National Park. While internationally acclaimed hospitality design consultant Studio Carter has been commissioned to oversee the interior design that draws its contextual inspiration from the surrounding natural landscape.
‘It has been our long-term vision to develop a premier beachfront destination and residential address along the Gold Coast,’ explains Vitale Projects Director, Chris Vitale: ‘sbe leads the industry in creating unique lifestyle hospitality experiences and this partnership allows us to bring the services, style and strengths of the Mondrian brand to guests and residents of our community, setting a whole new benchmark for service and hospitality on the Gold Coast.’
