HYDE Melbourne Place isn’t your typical design hotel. In the heart of the city, this new destination encapsulates high-end design without shouting. The hotel, designed by acclaimed Melbourne architects Kennedy Nolan, reimagines the hospitality experience through an expressive, sculptural and unapologetically bold lens. With 191 rooms and a sought-after rooftop restaurant, the building is a stage where design and culture meet.
From the street, HYDE Melbourne Place doesn’t immediately announce itself. A monolithic brick façade, layered in rich earthy tones, rises with rhythm and restraint to create a sense of anticipation. Once inside, the tone shifts dramatically. Kennedy Nolan has composed the interiors to be robust yet refined. Structure somehow feels spontaneous. The colour palette is confident, with deep greens, warm clays, offbeat pastels and luminous finishes bouncing against the natural grain of timber and brushed concrete. Every corner plays with contrast and depth.
It’s a design language that feels theatrical, and somehow laissez-faire. It’s immersive. Guest rooms, categorised as General Admission, VIP, Suites and the crowning Headliner Suite, each carry the signature HYDE attitude: layered and textural with just a touch of cheekiness. Beds are set against custom-designed bedheads that double as a sculptural insertion. Lighting is deliberately moody. Bathrooms lean into intimacy, with coloured tiling and curved forms that cocoon rather than expose.
HYDE’s global identity draws on music, fashion, art and nightlife, and Melbourne Place embodies this fusion through materiality and mood. There’s a tactile immediacy to every element: felted fabrics, slatted timber, tiled surfaces, unexpected pops of brass. Kennedy Nolan’s approach redefines luxury by grounding it in experience.
This immersive sensibility continues at Mid Air, the hotel’s all-day rooftop venue positioned on Level 12. With sweeping views of the city, the space functions as both restaurant and lounge, a place for connection, lingering and late nights. Mediterranean influences guide the menu, but it’s the interiors that elevate the whole. Sunset tones wash across the space, accented by signature Kennedy Nolan forms such as arched thresholds and ocular peepholes, while terrazzo surfaces and plush seating encourages guests to settle in. Like the rest of the hotel, it’s less about formality and more about atmosphere.
Importantly, HYDE Melbourne Place feels distinctly of its city. Kennedy Nolan has designed a high-energy brand that resonates with Melbourne’s creative pulse, its underground galleries, music scenes, independent fashion and cultural pluralism.
HYDE Melbourne Place dares to break the mould, setting a new tempo for what a hotel can be – using architecture and interiors to curate an experience that’s as sensual as it is functional. Whether you’re checking in for a night or checking out the rooftop for the evening, the hotel is a celebration of design as a social act. One that feels alive through its layered, sculptural and expressive design.
Kennedy Nolan’s masterstroke is not in any singular detail, but in how the studio has brought together all of these distinct elements – texture, light, space and story – into a cohesive whole.
HYDE Melbourne Place
hydehotels.com/melbourne-place
