THOSE Architects were excited to reimagine the 1970s-built Abel Tasman Motel at Bateman’s Bay on the NSW south coast. In their day, motels like the Abel Tasman were just pitstops, but the ambition with Isla was to create a destination, worthy of its beachside address.
Interventions lean into the 70s vibe using a warm palette of colours (ochre, ivory and kelp green) and materials - oak feature walls and terrazzo bathroom trims. The brick facade is painted warm white with panels of ochre and new concrete breeze blocks along ground-floor walkways both reducing the horizontal bulk of the building to a more vertical villa scale. Rooms are dressed with oak-panelled bedhead walls and linen curtains with joinery and rugs in shades of French blue.
“It’s not a huge building, but it’s not small either, and there wasn’t the budget to redesign the structure, so our interventions had to be small, but meaningful. It shows how recycling a building makes sense financially and environmentally, you can have fun with it too. ” — Simon Addinall, Director THOSE Architects
The grounds have also been reinvented with a guest swimming pool added, and the original garage converted to a poolside cabana. Landscaping by Svalbe & Co “riffs on the fresh tones and playful geometries set by the architectural facelift” says Director Katy Svalbe. Clusters of palms, accented with succulents and local coastal plants bring a Palm Springs oasis vibe to Batehaven.
