Inside Ovolo Nishi, the building’s pièce de résistance – the grand staircase – immediately draws your gaze. It’s a breathtaking combination of recycled timber collected from a demolished house, basketball court, the hotel’s construction site and offcuts from Nishi’s façade. I can’t help but think that should I ever need to make a grand entrance, these are the stairs I’d like to walk down.   

Nishi was designed by Fender Katsalidis Architects and Tokyo’s Suppose Design Office in conjunction with ARUP, and each room is equipped with an iPad so guests can learn more about the hotel’s unique design. The building was constructed and engineered to maximise energy efficiency through various innovations. ARUP explains that “from the outset, passive features and ultra-efficient systems have been fundamental to Nishi’s design. The central full-height atrium and high-performance operable façade maximise natural ventilation and light”. The passive design also eliminates the need for artificial cooling during the night and an efficient underfloor system provides free cooling to the building during a significant part of the year, further reducing Nishi’s carbon footprint.