The Fantauzzo

Located under the impressive and imposing Story Bridge, and hugging the contours of the cliff, The Fantuazzo nestles boldly but quietly into its context. The building forms an integral part of the Howard Smith Wharves revitalisation precinct along the Brisbane River, along a stretch of river bank that had been underutilised since its leasing to shipping company Howard Smith and Co from the mid-1930s to 1960s. The entire precinct aims to reconnect locals, the broader community and tourists to a newly energised entertainment hub complete with exhibition spaces, wine bars, veggie gardens, local brewery, dining and hospitality, panoramic pedestrian and cycling boulevards, and of course the opportunity for accommodation right on site – the hotel itself. Key to the success of the precinct was the retention, exhibition, and respect of old wharf buildings – now heritage listed – and remnants of bunkers from World War 2. For this reason, the hotel was conceived of as an extension of the cliff and a kind of ‘non-building’. Its faceted geometry talked to the craggy energy of the cliff itself and married it with the complex truss geometry of the wondrous Story Bridge – a blending of two prominent site features – the natural and the human-made. The building acts as a backdrop to the heritage wharf buildings along the waterfront, allowing them to be prominent and distinctly identifiable. Detailed mapping of the cliff features and tones as well as a surveying and appreciation of the bridge itself led to the final building interpretation as an earthy coloured and fragmented composition. Complex BIM modelling and the creation of discretely modular building components allowed this highly articulated composition to be realised. The hotel is sited within an incredibly challenging location, particularly from a construction point of view. Its hugs the eroded cliff (within a few meters of the cliff face), sits directly under Story Bridge, along the river (a common flood zone), and behind heritage buildings. Complex engineering from a structural, hydraulic and acoustic point of view needed to be implemented. The construction itself required serious coordination, sequencing and surveying to minimise any impact on the natural topography of the site, and in allowing safe construction of the site. Extensive planting throughout and over the building will allow it over time to be further blended into the cliff - the tropical nature of Brisbane providing the ideal environment. Garden beds are located at ground level, the highly active level three ‘rooftop’, and at the level 6 rooftop. Materially the building is expressed as a mix of raw, off-form concrete which is incorporated structurally into columns as well as the hotel room ceilings – again talking to a rawness and ‘from the ground’ tactility. A complex arrangement of printed metal panels in muted tones create the highly sculptural aesthetic of the façade. The hotel interiors act as pulsating, cave-like spaces, a backdrop of dark tones and muted finishes that challenge the traditional ‘white gallery’ space with works from artist Vincent Fantauzzo adorning all the walls.