Where Style Meets Street: First Look at Melbourne's Hannah St. Hotel
VICTORIA: Melbourne’s dynamic Southbank precinct will welcome its newest arrival this summer, with the opening of Hannah St. Hotel - a bold, boutique offering from Collection by TFE Hotels, purpose-built to reflect the culture, creativity, and rhythm of the city’s southern edge.
Developed by Time & Place, in partnership with construction specialists Hickory, MaxCap Group, and TFE Hotels, the $150 million hotel forms part of the landmark Queensbridge precinct - a new mixed-use development designed to breathe new life into Southbank. The hotel is also ideally positioned to complement the nearby $1.7 billion Melbourne Arts Precinct transformation and elevate the area’s tourism, hospitality, and cultural appeal.
Designed by Melbourne’s award-winning Flack Studio, this boutique 188-room hotel fuses art, architecture, music, and hospitality into a layered experience that is distinctly Melbourne – where grit meets glamour, and old meets new.
Southbank’s boldest new hotel stay is hidden in plain sight:
Hannah St. Hotel is the latest project from lauded interior architect David Flack and his Melbourne-based design team, Flack Studio. Known for high-end residential design, this is a continuation of the studio’s foray into commercial projects – and one that Flack calls “a career highlight.”
“This site is incredible, and Hannah St. will deliver an elevated and memorable hotel experience not only through the materiality and aesthetics of the design, but with the F&B and intuitive service on offer,” said David Flack of the triangular lot and facade, which draws comparisons to New York’s iconic Flatiron Building.
“We wanted to create a building that feels like it’s always been here. Something that’s part grand hotel, part underground bar, part cultural clubhouse – with spaces that feel layered and nostalgic, but completely of now.”
Hannah St. Hotel’s dramatic and unexpected setting alongside Melbourne’s Kings Way overpass is central to its architectural identity. Rather than avoiding the constraints of this arterial structure, the design embraces it, creating a bold and beautifully resolved urban insertion. The hotel looks globally for inspiration whilst also remaining rooted in local identity – sitting within the podium of the Queensbridge Building, a 65-storey residential and lifestyle tower that rises 209 metres above Southbank, forming part of a dynamic new neighbourhood precinct.
Tim Price, Director of Time & Place, explains: "When designing the public spaces, we thought about how you invite people in, make these social active spaces, and make them places of positive interaction. The idea is to make people feel like they’re part of a place which is much loved, that has substance and timelessness. Our aspiration is to be the neighbourhood’s gathering place, like the old corner milk bar - part of people’s daily routine, where inside and outside spaces blur."
Modern Nostalgia:
Throughout the hotel, guests will find a rich and unexpected mix of custom furniture, expressive colours, collectable art and bold materiality – all hallmarks of the Flack Studio aesthetic.
“The Flack Studio team of young professionals keep a healthy respect for the past and an eye to the future to deliver sophisticated and easy spaces to live and stay in, which is why we love working with them," says Tim Price. “Modern nostalgia is the feeling you get when you rediscover that familiar sense of home, and they understand how to incorporate this into the context of a hotel."
Indeed, David Flack says that his guiding design ethos is always shaped by this central idea - not to replicate a single era, but to express the layered character of the building, the neighbourhood, and Melbourne itself.
“In my opinion, every hotel is really about place, context - and that’s the number one thing that determines it,” says David Flack. “So, no matter where our inspiration came from, this hotel had to ultimately feel like Melbourne.”
Flack says the design at Hannah St. is neither nostalgic nor futuristic - it’s both.
“If you’d taken one of the grand buildings of New York and renovated it again and again over the decades - you’d end up with something layered, something refined. That’s what we’ve done here,” he said. “It’s the definition of modern nostalgia. It feels old and contemporary - like the Chrysler Building. There is always a reverence in our work to spark memories, to take people somewhere they’ve been before, or somewhere they’ve always wanted to go.”
Lifestyle, movement, and connection:
Anchoring Hannah St. Hotel and the Queensbridge precinct is The Clubhouse - entire floors dedicated to lifestyle, movement, and connection. More than a guest facility, it’s a living, breathing hub for creativity, wellbeing, and social exchange.
Here, guests can swim laps in a sculptural black and white 25-metre lap pool, recharge in the steam room or sauna, and sweat it out in the fully equipped gym. There’s a suite of wellness spaces designed to feel both elevated and effortless. For those mixing business with pleasure, co-working studios, meeting rooms, and breakaway lounges create space for focus and flow.
Evenings shift the energy: from rooftop cocktails on the sun-drenched garden terrace to intimate dinners in a private Izakaya-style dining room - The Clubhouse is the social soul of Hannah St. Hotel exclusive to in-house hotel guests, and those residing in the Queensbridge building.
For guests looking to channel the city's cultural energy into creativity and focus, the precinct offers a flexible co-working lounge and a fully equipped podcast recording studio, available on request.
For those gathering with purpose, the hotel offers two conference rooms, an indoor rooftop event space on the tenth floor with sweeping city views, and a collection of adaptable meeting areas designed to inspire connection and collaboration. Price says, "We want intimacy, but we want action - venues sized for atmosphere and quality, not oversized spaces that feel empty."
Visit hannahsthotel.com for more information.
Ends.
MORE ABOUT HANNAH ST. HOTEL MELBOURNE
Opening this summer in Melbourne’s vibrant Southbank, Hannah St. Hotel is a striking new addition to the city’s skyline. Designed by Melbourne-based Flack Studio, the hotel blends modern nostalgia with a deep appreciation for culture, community, and culinary excellence.
With 188 uniquely styled rooms, Hannah St. Hotel is part of the Collection by TFE Hotels – a portfolio of one-of-a-kind properties, each committed to quality design, exceptional experiences, and connection to their community.
The hotel’s name pays tribute to Patrick Hanna, a pioneering engineer and shipbuilder from Glasgow who arrived in Melbourne in 1853. At the height of the gold rush, Hanna operated a punt across the Yarra River, connecting the emerging township of Emerald Hill (now South Melbourne) with the bustling northern docks and marketplaces. His route would eventually evolve into Kings Way – one of Melbourne’s grand avenues.
Today, Hannah St. Hotel stands on a site once known as Hanna Street, a lane that quietly adopted an extra ‘H’ over time. This subtle transformation mirrors the city’s own evolution – from gold rush boomtown to cultural capital – and anchors the hotel in a rich historical narrative that continues to shape Melbourne’s identity. http://www.hannahsthotel.com
What’s in a name: Hannah St. Hotel Melbourne can be shortened to Hannah St. or Hannah St. Hotel
Website: http://www.hannahsthotel.com
Developer: Time & Place
Joint Venture Partners: MaxCap Group and Hickory Group
Architect: Fraser & Partners
Interior Design: David Flack, Flack Studios
Operator: TFE Hotels
Brand: Collection by TFE Hotels
Importantly, Hannah St Hotel Melbourne is an independently owned, one-of-a-kind hotel and brand, operated by TFE Hotels. Additionally, while Hannah St Hotel shares its interior design studio, Flack Studio, with Ace Hotel Sydney, there is no brand connection between the two hotels.
Social media tags: #hannahsthotelmelbourne #tfehotels #collectionbytfehotels
Please tag the following on LinkedIn: Peter Minatsis Chris Sedgwick, Tish Nyar, Stephen Moore, Jodi Clark, Katia Giurtalis, Geraldine Connell, TFE Hotels.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Jodi Clark - TFE Hotels (Director of Communications): +61 499 900 658 / [email protected]
Rebecca Astier - Glasshouse Communications (PR Consultant working with TFE on the launch of Hannah St. Hotel Melbourne): +61 417 667 042 / [email protected]
WHO ARE TFE HOTELS?
TFE Hotels (TOGA Far East Hotels) is Australia’s International Hotel Group - headquartered in Sydney and operating in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Austria, Singapore, and Switzerland. TFE has a portfolio of seven hotel brands - A by Adina, Adina Hotels, Vibe Hotels, Quincy Hotels, Travelodge Hotels, Rendezvous Hotels and Collection by TFE Hotels, with more in the development pipeline. https://www.tfehotels.com
ABOUT COLLECTION BY TFE HOTELS
A collection of independent and unique hotels in Australia and New Zealand, each committed to quality design, exceptional experience, and connection to their community. https://collectionbytfehotels.com/
ABOUT TIME & PLACE
Time & Place is a next generation, design-focused developer which has been in operation for 10 years. Established in Melbourne in early 2015 and expanding Into Sydney later that year, Time & Place is known for holistic, considered projects that respond to the needs of the surrounding environment and its inhabitants. Involved in 25 projects totalling $5.5bn and with a rapidly growing pipeline,
Time & Place’s work spans residential, commercial, and industrial projects. Having recently acquired sites in South Melbourne, Sydney’s Surry Hills and Manly, the team has been working diligently to expand into new typologies.
Time & Place has also established several successful partnerships, entering into a joint venture with retail giant Woolworths on a site in Glen Iris, collaborating with Hickory on The Queensbridge Building and a mixed-use precinct in Alexandria, and creating the MaxCap Industrial Opportunity Fund (MIOF) in conjunction with MaxCap Group.
ABOUT MAXCAP GROUP
MaxCap Group is one of Australia’s leading Commercial Real Estate investment managers and is an established investment manager for domestic and global institutions with current Funds Under Management and Advice of circa $7.0bn, having invested more than $16bn across more than 650 transactions since inception in 2007.
MaxCap’s Direct Investment team has established an enviable record of success in originating and managing high-yielding investments, particularly in the mid-market joint venture development space. The team is currently managing a diversified portfolio with a total end value of over $5bn, underpinned by partnerships with Australia’s leading private real estate developers.
ABOUT HICKORY
Hickory is a diverse delivery partner, always striving to create better places for future communities. For over 30 years, we have continually invested in researching and developing systems, people, and products to advance the capabilities of the built world. We’ve worked hard to enter new markets across developments, manufacturing, data centres, and construction.
Hickory has forged a reputation as an innovative and dynamic company with a vertically integrated business that includes formwork, structure, facade, fit out, crane logistics, and manufacturing specialists. Our success is achieved through strong partnerships with our clients, exemplary values, and unrivalled excellence in project execution.