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If a building could wear platform shoes and flared jeans, this one would. With its big arches, the retro style of the Bank of China\u2019s former Sydney head office block opposite Wynyard Park in Sydney\u2019s CBD encapsulated the early 1970s.<\/p>\n
Rather than raze and build something new, the block is now being converted into a new lifestyle hotel, the first Motto by Hilton in Australia, scheduled for completion in late 2027.<\/p>\n
The adaptive reuse project by architects Bates Smart will retain much of the building\u2019s existing structure and go big on its original style.<\/p>\n
The architecture practice\u2019s interior design director Brenton Smith said the 1970s had been a moment of real experimentation in colour, form and a \u201ckind of unapologetic vibrancy\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Philip](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/bf93816ef87e47fc8d5ef805d9b56950f39fe183.jpeg\")
Philip Vivian of Bates Smart outside the soon-to-be-converted old Bank of China offices on York Street, Wynard. Edwina Pickles![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3aad3ab6f4c107eb0d1cc61af2cb64bc99645be2.jpeg\")
An artist\u2019s impression of the coming Motto by Hilton hotel in Sydney\u2019s CBD.Bates Smart<\/p>\n
The design for the new hotel lent into that spirit \u201cwith bright finishes, carpet up the walls in the corridors, a circular motif that echoes the glazed screens of the era\u201d.<\/p>\n
Smith said every design decision traced back to the \u201cDNA of the 1970s\u201d, including checkerboard tiling, amber glass, louvred joinery, and Panton chairs by Danish designer Verner Panton.<\/p>\n
With its arched colonnades, it was a nice building, said Philip Vivian, the managing director of Bates Smart and advocate for adaptive reuse of older buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than demolish it and build again, we wanted to keep it and maximise its features,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6ca6d5e93d08fd369aad386397b9b0c63740ce18.jpeg\")
An artist\u2019s impression of a guest room interior, featuring a 1970s circular motif in the bathroom. Bates Smart ![\"Render](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fb8fa96f05c1ac5b3242aeb0e6239ec0e226ee63.jpeg\")
Render of a new bar planned for the former Bank of China head office in Sydney\u2019s Wynyard.Bates Smart <\/p>\n
Compared to a new build, retaining its structure saved 72 per cent of its embodied carbon, Vivian said. The World Green Building Council says new buildings are responsible for 39 per cent of global energy-related carbon emissions.<\/p>\n
Vivian said they would keep most of the structure and update other parts \u2013 including painting the mullions (dividers) in the windows \u2013 because there was no point throwing them away. They had hoped to keep the glass, too, but opted for improved glazing for insulation and to reduce sound from the street below.<\/p>\n
The 4412square-metre floor plate is relatively small, and a fraction of those in bigger blocks now being built.<\/p>\n
Updating the building will involve cutting through its core to add a new lift and staircase.<\/p>\n
![\"German](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7f20914b5c634e4591492767fcaaf02f8b74e88c.jpeg\")
German designer Verner Panton was known for his playful designs, like these suspended chairs to prevent furniture clutter and aid housekeeping.Getty ImagesOther hotel conversions include:Capella Sydney in the former Department of Education offices.Crystallbrook Kingsley, the conversion of Newcastle\u2019s round council administration centre.\u00a0Punthill Tuggeranong, ACT, formerly an innovation centre.\u00a0Vibe Hotel,\u00a0 previously an old office block on Goulburn Street Sydney for Transport NSW.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian said the climate crisis had made it \u201cimperative for humankind to cut carbon emissions\u201d and preserve or adapt older buildings, such as the bank site, and those with heritage listing.<\/p>\n
His comments coincide with a promise by Heritage Minister Penny Sharpe to make it easier for owners of heritage buildings to adapt them for future use.<\/p>\n
Editor’s pick Unlike hotels that look the same in Shanghai as they do in Toronto, Motto by Hilton hotels are built to suit the local neighbourhood.<\/p>\n Experts say the growth of lifestyle hotels allows for more unusual floor plates<\/a> like the new Motto. It will have 96 standard rooms, 14 bunk rooms, 14 flex rooms, 20 suites and many rooms that connect.<\/p>\n Architects Gensler say converting smaller office blocks into hotels is faster than a new build, and allows for the facade and mechanical systems to be saved or reused.<\/p>\n![\"Architects](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779853093_650_bb183c0ec7af3ee9021356feeaafa30422dd09f0.jpeg\")
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