Creating The Eve

The EVE recently opened its doors, positioning itself as a place where creatives, tastemakers and entrepreneurs congregate and visitors can effortlessly immerse themselves in the vibrant art, design, and culinary delights of the eclectic local community.

Image credit: The EVE

TOGA Group Owner/Developer, Allan Vidor, has brought together a trio of Sydney creatives – SJB’s Adam Haddow, 360 Degree’s Daniel Baffsky and Interior Architect George Levissianis – to create The EVE. These designers have combined their design know-how to imagine spaces where hotel guests and visitors can immerse themselves in the art, cultural, and culinary offerings from the local community… with The EVE at the centre of the hospitality experience.

“TOGA has a particular expertise in conceiving and delivering mixed use precincts, and a passion for creating thoughtfully designed spaces,” commented Vidor. “And The EVE Hotel Sydney and Wunderlich Lane precinct bring together the best of Surry Hills and Redfern into one stylish destination.”

Image credit: The EVE

An urban haven, The EVE features a rooftop space that is first and foremost a garden, paying homage to the precinct’s former life as one of the very first pleasure gardens established during the colonial Sydney era. Conceptualised by Surry Hills-based creative Daniel Baffsky from 360 Degrees, the landscape envelopes the space with beautiful, lush native planting and exotic palms that are in perfect synergy with the architecture.

The EVE’s 20 metre pool is set within the rooftop garden. Textural natural stone, accented retro-style umbrellas, bespoke cabanas and imported Sukabumi pool tiles complete the overall design aesthetic.

Image credit: The EVE / Georg Roske

Located on the lobby level of The EVE, guests are invited to slip into Liquid & Larder’s newest Sydney venue, Bar Julius, for an ‘All Day Mary’. “Together, we are creating a space for people to gather, an atmosphere that is lively and warm, that channels European nostalgia with modern sophistication,” said Liquid & Larder’s James Bradley.

Image credit: The EVE / Georg Roske

Art and design are front and centre, with SJB fusing the venue’s local identity with global appeal. Lead Designer, Victoria Judge, used a rich palette of burgundy, tactile marble, and leather to create a space that is cosy, uplifting, and full of life. “The design brings together timelessness, with a fresh, modern energy.” A Louise Olsen original, “Still Life” has been reimagined as a huge scale mural that frames the dining room ceiling. “I love the scale and the digital quality of the print,” discussed Olsen. “It’s so detailed, you can see the individual brush marks.”

Sydney’s love of the great outdoors spills over this hotel, literally, with meticulously crafted landscapes that have a symbiotic interaction with SJB’s architectural design. Baffsky’s sophisticated planting design combines native and exotic species in lush, bold arrangements that connect and reflect with the surrounds of the cosmopolitan city on its doorstep. Curves and plants play beautifully together: The EVE’s biophilic design features eye-catching curved balustrades peppered through a network of green spaces. Climbing ivy, native and exotic shade species not only cools the site but invites interactions with nature. Here, Baffsky’s vision is to allow nature to take the lead to provide its own unique timelessness and, in a very natural evolution, blur the line between exterior and interiors spaces.

Image credit: The EVE / Georg Roske

SJB has created 102 boutique hotel rooms that are both visually stunning and welcoming. For SJB Director, Adam Haddow, it was important to create a global hotel whilst ensuring the local identity was maintained. As Haddow said: “The design of the hotel is rooted in our understanding of place. It is earthy and grounded and grows from our belief that the hotel is equally about creating connection and providing reprieve.”

“This is a hotel that is rooted in its location but appeals to a global market,” continued Haddow. “To that end, we’ve used local designers, craftsman, and fabrics that pick up the flora and fauna of Sydney and wider New South Wales.”

Unique features include the hand-crafted details of the glazed faience in The EVE’s hallways and bespoke lighting in the lift lobbies by Sydney Designer, Henry Wilson, and an Australiana palette which provides rich tones.

“Every aspect of The EVE has been crafted to evoke a sense of style, sophistication, and comfort,” TFE Hotels’ CEO, Antony Ritch said. “From the unique architectural features to the meticulously designed interiors, we are looking to create a hospitality experience that is both visually stunning and welcoming for all.”

Image credit: The EVE

The generosity and integrity of the landscape and, in turn, its conversation with the architecture, are shown to best effect throughout the 102 boutique rooms and the rooftop garden, complete with restaurant and pool. Throughout the hotel and wider precinct, beautifully designed spaces play host to an array of sophisticated culinary experiences, hosted by Australia’s finest food and beverage talent alongside boutique retail and health, wellness, beauty, and spa offerings.

Finally, meet Lottie – The EVE’s all-weather rooftop restaurant and bar is a contemporary Mexican restaurant and mezcaleria helmed by Sydney-based, experience-led hospitality operators, Liquid & Larder – designed to provide a sense of escapism for guests. Taking inspiration from Adam Haddow’s architectural palette, George Livissianis and his interiors team created a venue that maintains a sense of being outdoors.

“We wanted to create a space that felt like an external space – surrounded by planting and absorbed into it. The choice of sandblasted travertines, Palladiana flooring and an exposed concrete structure aims to create this sense of texture – of being outside and located in an urban context,” Livissianis said. Red travertine sits at the core of Livissianis’ palette, and colour through the venue picks up on the variability of the stone – from ochre reds to brighter oranges – in tune with the Mexican food offering.

“We are known across our portfolio of restaurants and bars for providing our guests with extraordinary sensory experiences,” echoed Liquid & Larder’s Co-Founder and Director, James Bradey. “At its core, the rooftop is a space to escape, transporting you to where you’d rather be.”

Main image credit: The EVE