2017 Gallery
Winner: Best Bar Design
George Livissianis for The Dolphin Hotel
412 Crown Street
Surry Hills, New South Wales
The Dolphin Hotel has three individual spaces including a Public Bar, Dining Room and Wine Room.
Maurice Terzini and his team have built on the iconic venue’s heritage, adding an exciting new layer
to its history by repurposing and transforming the space.
Jury Citation
The Dolphin Hotel is a treat. Both temporary and permanent, anarchic and cogent, this bar interior balances diametric opposites in exquisite tension. Originally a series of rooms for a series of art projects, the spaces work seamlessly together, united by a light-coloured palette.
The Dolphin Hotel is successful both day and night, an achievement that is unusual in itself. The effect of the interior has been achieved in an economical and parsimonious way, and the overall impression is of an interior that doesn’t take itself or anything too seriously. Perhaps one of the most important outcomes of the creation of The Dolphin Hotel is that it has inserted itself provocatively into the conversation about Sydney’s lockout laws, as the temporary pop-up that stayed put.
Imbued with underlying warmth, it is the ideal place to spend an entire afternoon, rolling merrily on into night. The ultimate success of The Dolphin Hotel is that it marries whimsy and discipline, and the result is outstanding.
