Kiln at Ace Hotel Sydney

Anson Smart

FIONA LYNCH OFFICE INFUSES CRAFTSMANSHIP AND A SITE’S RICH HISTORY TO CREATE KILN – ACE HOTEL SYDNEY’S NEW RESTAURANT AND BAR.

• Interior Designer

Fiona Lynch Office the Australian, Melbourne-based interior design studio is pleased to announce their design of Kiln, the new Ace Hotel Sydney’s rooftop restaurant and bar, opening early October 2022.

Designed by Fiona Lynch and her team of architects and interior designers, Kiln is testament to the inherently Australian craftsmanship and distinct colours reflected in the project, as well as the studio’s commitment to sustainability and multidisciplinary collaboration.

Through a global lens, Lynch has created a space that is unique to Ace Sydney, yet evocative of the Australian landscape through its palette of filtered, luminescent hues. “From the outset, Ace wanted it to be an Australian take on what an Ace Hotel could be –one that would reflect Australia’s culture, colours, and design language,” says Lynch. “Their desire was for Kiln to feel like a distinctly different space within the hotel.”

Located on the Top Floor of the 18-storey building as part of the first Ace Hotel in the southern hemisphere, Kiln contains two dining areas, two bars, lounge and two terrace dining areas with a retractable roof, with each space having its own nuanced patina.

The site also hones in on the building’s distinct history as a former warehouse that housed one of Australia’s oldest known kilns, and later as a garment factory.
Subtle and unexpected views reveal Sydney from different angles – Central Station’s familiar sandstone façade and the surrounding train tracks and just a single sail of the Sydney Opera House as the eye travels through city’s high rise buildings. “The building’s windows were generous, so we designed banquette seating around the perimeters to create a relaxed and layered space,” says Fiona.

Almost all of the materials used for the design have been sourced locally. Lynch consciously specified local materials such as Australian stone on the bar and floors sourced from regional quarries and a variety of Australian timbers including Tasmanian Huon Pine and recycled Birdseye Stringybark, Blackbutt timbers and for much of the custom furniture, reclaimed Oregon. In a first, an alchemically nuanced, custom ombré finish brass sprayed onto aluminium was commissioned by Australian lighting designer Volker Haug of Volker Haug Studio to wrap a central utility room.

This same local artisanal approach was used in the design of Kiln’s custom-designed textiles, where, in another first, the FLO team salvaged materials from the building site to be crushed and create pigment that was then hand-painted onto Belgian linen. Lynch collaborated with Spacecraft Studio to create a unique, custom-printed textile that covers several walls and surrounds window frames, as well as being used on furniture upholstery.

The tactility of layered materiality, and the arresting impact of bold colour choices such as a striking blue resin wall that greets guests immediately upon entering the space, reflect the ability of Fiona Lynch Office to seamlessly fuse warm and organic characteristics with vibrant, limit-pushing materials, textures and finishes. “We sought inspiration globally, so that the design would have the sobriety of American furniture’s DNA while being dedicated to infusing the spaces with local character,” says Fiona. “The palette came together quite organically to reflect the Australian landscape in a beautiful way, tethering these interiors to the historic, urban Sydney neighbourhood that Kiln overlooks.”

“The history and background of this site is absolutely incredible; from housing Australia’s first-ever kilns, to being a garment factory, it’s a space that’s imbued with creative spirit,” says Lynch.

“Our vision was to honour these contexts through a contemporary interpretation and to subtly engage those who eat and drink at Kiln with the rich culture outside these walls.”