Latest news with #heritagebuilding
News.com.au
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
First Look: Inside the $15m restoration of this iconic city hotel
The owners of the Lord Stanley Hotel have revealed the secrets behind its new look, after reopening in May with a $15 million makeover. Located in East Brisbane and near the city's iconic Gabba Stadium, the hotel was bought by Hakfoort Group in 2022 and shut down for an extensive refurbishment of the heritage site. Today, the hotel's redesign is complete, and includes a significant extension to the 135 year-old building. Zac Efron's Aussie long lunch haunt is on the market Auction drama marks jaw-dropping sale of Aus' 'best build' Construction workers removed much of the building's current state to accomplish this, working around the heritage aspects of the hotel as they did so. Hakfoort Group director Albert Hakfoort said looking back, building around a hotel that changed so much over the decades proved more of a challenge than expected. 'We've uncovered some pretty hairy things,' he said. 'Part of the discovery in the demolition process: you uncover warts that had been covered up under previous refurbishments.' These included access points, doorways, windows and even the stringer of a stairwell along what was previously the outside of the hotel. 'You can see where they'd paint around it – you can see the outline of the stairs,' he said. But through the process, Mr Hakfoort said his team was able to build the hotel anew, while taking care to preserve and promote the original parts of the heritage building. 'We have been very close to a heritage architect through this process,' he said. 'Everything heritage absolutely has remained.' 'Fortunately, we've been able to find some of the original archways and a fireplace that had been left to wither and die … uncovering those has been very exciting, and I think the end result is very refreshing.' Heritage features include preserved red brick facade and a top level function room with removed cladding, allowing visitors to see the original heritage brickwork that surrounded the space. Meanwhile the new hotel features additions such as a sports bar with a 200' LED TV wall, and a beer garden with more than 1000 plants. The garden's plants were purchased more than a year ago, given time to grow before they were placed in the hotel. Two mature trees were also imported to be transplanted in the garden before the opening event. 'The beer garden is better than what I'd hoped,' Mr Hakfoort said. 'Within 12 months, we hope to have a fully mature plant area in there.' Mr Hakfoort, whose company has worked on renovating other Brisbane hotels, said the end product would be unrecognisable to people who'd visited in the past – but he still wanted to make sure it was respectful of the hotel's origins. 'I think going into an older hotel has that character,' he said. 'There's an attachment to something historical there. If you walk into a modern hotel, they do kind of look the same.' 'It's a moment in time that just won't be replicated again, and rather than hiding it, we've chosen to accentuate it.' The hotel's grand opening took place on May 8, with its doors open to the public on May 9. Its website now accepts reservations and inquiries for events, such as room hiring for functions.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scion of hospitality conglomerate Genting Group sees potential in wellness-based co-living spaces
'The Initial Sama,' from Singapore-based design and architecture firm Cover Projects, sits in a leafy part of Singapore, near the National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and down the road from the city's botanic gardens. Yet while the almost-70-year-old building sits near a university, the co-living space, which opens in July, isn't targeting students, nor the executives that normally pick up serviced apartments. Instead, Lim Keong Wee, founder of Cover Projects, is focused on a different kind of clientele: medical tourists. 'We first were quite taken by the Evans Road building being a heritage building,' Lim says. 'Then we did our research and thought wellness tourism has the potential to grow even bigger and much faster.' Lim was so confident in his analysis that his company outbid all other competitors for the plot by almost 50%, offering to pay a monthly lease of 265,000 Singapore dollars ($201,000) to the Singapore Land Authority. Lim explains the building's proximity to private hospitals and a large botanic garden gives Cover Projects a strategic advantage when it comes to wellness tourism. 'The opportunity was very rare,' Lim says, 'hence we were quite aggressive with our bid.' In particular, he sees the space as adding capacity to two nearby private hospitals, providing a temporary living space for patients who still need post-op care, who can now live in the co-living space and free up hospital bed space. Lim first got the idea for 'The Initial Sama' when he noticed a rising number of medical tourists at one of his other properties, 'The Initial Residence'. Cover Project's other co-living spaces are targeted at the usual clientele of college students and expats. Yet Lim noticed that 'The Initial Residence,' based in the city's Balestier neighborhood, was reporting a rise in stays from people seeking treatment at a nearby medical hub. Some hospital brands in Southeast Asia have also partnered with hotels and serviced apartment providers to provide space for international patients who need post-op care, and in the city-state, hotels and serviced apartments are also often located closeby to major popular medical facilities. While Singapore is a popular destination for medical tourism in Southeast Asia, the industry has not grown to the same extent as neighbors like Thailand and Malaysia. Medical providers argue the strong Singapore dollar is increasing costs—including for accommodation. Lim positions his developments as part of an approach he calls 'context-driven design,' which leverages heritage buildings in Singapore. Cover Projects' first development was 'Eighteen by Three,' which restored a shophouse in Singapore's Chinatown and turned it into an international student hostel. That was followed by 'The Initial Residence,' a newer building located in one of the older and grittier neighborhoods on the fringes of the city center. 'The Initial Sama' is housed in a building that dates from 1958, five years before Singapore left the British Empire. The building was once a former college under the then-University of Malaya. 'Our general approach to any building from a design standpoint has to be what we call context driven. Understanding a building's history gives us a glimpse of why the building was here,' Lim says. Lim hopes to use design to draw people into spaces, which is perhaps why he's focused on hospitality projects for his redevelopments. 'When we first started with shophouses, we found them to be very rich in culture, and history. We started to look at them from a lens of how design can rejuvenate spaces and ultimately allow people to discover the locale, or if not the building itself,' Lim says. 'We started looking into multi-use spaces that's very driven by experiences.' Lim is part of the founding family behind the Genting Group, No. 54 on the Southeast Asia 500. The company opened its first casino in Malaysia in 1971, and now operates resorts in Las Vegas, New York, and Singapore. His father, Lim Chee Wah, is the youngest son of the founder of the Genting Group and formerly deputy managing director of Genting Berhad. Chee Wah's brother is currently the chairman of Genting Group. Lim explains that he had been exposed to the hospitality business from a young age due to his family ties. He subsequently moved to the U.K. to pursue a degree in architecture. He later co-founded PAC, a design-focused firm, with fellow architect Victoria Loh in 2009. The firm was one of the master planner designers for Genting Secret Garden in Zhangjiakou. That resort was used to house a media centre, athletes, and delegates for the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022. The two then founded Cover Projects in 2015 and focused on 'boutique spaces,' as well as consulting for clients. Those connections helped them get started in the wellness co-living space. 'Working with other clients allows us to be nimble and explore other concepts. We've had clients in the wellness space and that gave us insights, which is why we then took the plunge and made a bid for Evans Road,' Lim says. This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scion of hospitality conglomerate Genting Group sees potential in wellness-based co-living spaces
'The Initial Sama,' from Singapore-based design and architecture firm Cover Projects, sits in a leafy part of Singapore, near the National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and down the road from the city's botanic gardens. Yet while the almost-70-year-old building sits near a university, the co-living space, which opens in July, isn't targeting students, nor the executives that normally pick up serviced apartments. Instead, Lim Keong Wee, founder of Cover Projects, is focused on a different kind of clientele: medical tourists. 'We first were quite taken by the Evans Road building being a heritage building,' Lim says. 'Then we did our research and thought wellness tourism has the potential to grow even bigger and much faster.' Lim was so confident in his analysis that his company outbid all other competitors for the plot by almost 50%, offering to pay a monthly lease of 265,000 Singapore dollars ($201,000) to the Singapore Land Authority. Lim explains the building's proximity to private hospitals and a large botanic garden gives Cover Projects a strategic advantage when it comes to wellness tourism. 'The opportunity was very rare,' Lim says, 'hence we were quite aggressive with our bid.' In particular, he sees the space as adding capacity to two nearby private hospitals, providing a temporary living space for patients who still need post-op care, who can now live in the co-living space and free up hospital bed space. Lim first got the idea for 'The Initial Sama' when he noticed a rising number of medical tourists at one of his other properties, 'The Initial Residence'. Cover Project's other co-living spaces are targeted at the usual clientele of college students and expats. Yet Lim noticed that 'The Initial Residence,' based in the city's Balestier neighborhood, was reporting a rise in stays from people seeking treatment at a nearby medical hub. Some hospital brands in Southeast Asia have also partnered with hotels and serviced apartment providers to provide space for international patients who need post-op care, and in the city-state, hotels and serviced apartments are also often located closeby to major popular medical facilities. While Singapore is a popular destination for medical tourism in Southeast Asia, the industry has not grown to the same extent as neighbors like Thailand and Malaysia. Medical providers argue the strong Singapore dollar is increasing costs—including for accommodation. Lim positions his developments as part of an approach he calls 'context-driven design,' which leverages heritage buildings in Singapore. Cover Projects' first development was 'Eighteen by Three,' which restored a shophouse in Singapore's Chinatown and turned it into an international student hostel. That was followed by 'The Initial Residence,' a newer building located in one of the older and grittier neighborhoods on the fringes of the city center. 'The Initial Sama' is housed in a building that dates from 1958, five years before Singapore left the British Empire. The building was once a former college under the then-University of Malaya. 'Our general approach to any building from a design standpoint has to be what we call context driven. Understanding a building's history gives us a glimpse of why the building was here,' Lim says. Lim hopes to use design to draw people into spaces, which is perhaps why he's focused on hospitality projects for his redevelopments. 'When we first started with shophouses, we found them to be very rich in culture, and history. We started to look at them from a lens of how design can rejuvenate spaces and ultimately allow people to discover the locale, or if not the building itself,' Lim says. 'We started looking into multi-use spaces that's very driven by experiences.' Lim is part of the founding family behind the Genting Group, No. 54 on the Southeast Asia 500. The company opened its first casino in Malaysia in 1971, and now operates resorts in Las Vegas, New York, and Singapore. His father, Lim Chee Wah, is the youngest son of the founder of the Genting Group and formerly deputy managing director of Genting Berhad. Chee Wah's brother is currently the chairman of Genting Group. Lim explains that he had been exposed to the hospitality business from a young age due to his family ties. He subsequently moved to the U.K. to pursue a degree in architecture. He later co-founded PAC, a design-focused firm, with fellow architect Victoria Loh in 2009. The firm was one of the master planner designers for Genting Secret Garden in Zhangjiakou. That resort was used to house a media centre, athletes, and delegates for the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022. The two then founded Cover Projects in 2015 and focused on 'boutique spaces,' as well as consulting for clients. Those connections helped them get started in the wellness co-living space. 'Working with other clients allows us to be nimble and explore other concepts. We've had clients in the wellness space and that gave us insights, which is why we then took the plunge and made a bid for Evans Road,' Lim says. This story was originally featured on
