10 minute read
Design & Build: The Glebe Hotel
HISTORIC YOUTH HOTEL FIT FOR MODERN TIMES
SYDNEY’S AUSTRALIAN YOUTH HOTEL GETS REJUVENATING MAKEOVER TO BECOME THE GLEBE HOTEL. CRAIG HAWTIN-BUTCHER REVEALS HOW THIS SINGLE-SITE FAMILY-OWNED OPERATOR HAS MODERNISED TO STAY COMPETITIVE.
The 'Stables' dining area with bar and mezzanine space
Photo credit: Guy Davies
This industry is super-competitive and if you don’t reinvest in your business, you’re certainly going to lose marketshare.” That’s the verdict of Daniel “This Nissen, co-owner of the newly renamed Glebe Hotel in Sydney, which has just undergone a major seven month renovation. Formerly known as the Australian Youth Hotel, Daniel owns the hotel alongside his brother Zelman, their mother, sister and, before his passing, their father.
The result, says Jerry Bull, Principal of the project’s designers Alexander & Co, is “beautiful and reverential. It is textural, material and historically intriguing while still having a clear sense of spontaneity.”
The facade, essentially unchanged since 1862
Photo credit: Guy Davies
The Zelmans represent a family-owned, single operator hotel and have owned the historic hotel since May 2012. They were no strangers to major renovations, having previously owned Dirty Nelly’s in Sydney’s Paddington district for 16 years, until they sold up in 2013.
“We ran both of them for about a year and a half,” says Daniel. “We’d done a major renovation in that hotel as well, so we understood the process. Even back in those days it was very expensive. It’s even more expensive now. We knew it was going to take a significant sum, to be able to do what we wanted to do.”
Co-owners and brothers Zelman Nissen (left) and Daniel Nissen
Photo credit: Guy Davies
ALL CHANGE
What they’ve done to the 460 sqm heritage-listed hotel, established in 1862, is dug out a new cellar beneath the public bar, which now accommodates up to 40 kegs plus additional chiller space and new utilities equipment.
While the public bar on ground level remained open throughout the renovations, it’s all change to the rear. The courtyard area was levelled, a new 75-inch outdoor screen has been installed, the rear restaurant dining space (The Stables) was re-created to remove the toilets previously in a corner of that space, to be replaced with a gleaming new bar.
Covered courtyard area
Photo credit: Guy Davies
Dining room with mural by Sydney artist Indigo Jo
Photo credit: Guy Davies
The look and feel for that space was easily drawn, says Bull:
“The venue has a very rich history, and the fact that the rear portions of the site still had a scale adequate for horse entry to the ‘stable’ gave us plenty to work with. We loved the potential of these old stories and really aimed to amplify them and make them wonderful once again.”
To the front, the gaming room has been completely modernised. Upstairs, the Nude bar (formerly a brothel in the late 1960s) has been left almost entirely intact, offering a private function space to customers. Back of house has also undergone major works.
“It’s a whole new kitchen,” says Daniel. “It was a real challenge trying to maintain compliance in the old kitchen – it was an old weatherboard outhouse and we just couldn’t repair it any more, it was like an unravelling ball of string.”
Outside, the multi-level courtyard is now stepfree, to become disability compliant and receive the DA. “I didn’t realise so many people would say how wonderful [it is] now that it’s all on one level,” says Daniel. “People with kids, pets. It was a bit of a goat track before. Some people might think the goat track is enchanting, but operationally it’s a waste of space.”
The ground floor public bar remained open during renovations
Photo credit: Guy Davies
RUN DOWN TO ONE UP
What else motivated the renovations?
“We knew as soon as we bought it in 2012 that we needed to do some renovations to it,” says Daniel. “It was very run down in a lot of areas, and addressing one area meant addressing all the areas. It was just a question of timing and finance. It’s probably fair to say that my family acts fairly conservatively. We didn’t want to over-commit and jeopardise our position.”
There were also issues both aesthetically and functionally, the Nissens admit.
“No money had been spent on the pub in quite some time,” says Daniel, “so it really needed an injection of funds and a lot of areas were looking rather tired – the beer garden, the back of house was really tired, kind of falling down. The restaurant while quite inviting had the men’s toilet right in the middle of it.”
Not only that, but the pub was suffering among intense competition in this built up suburb close to the Sydney CBD.
“A lot of things around us were changing, so we knew we had to put something into it to bring it back up to today,” says Daniel.
“You constantly have to be reinvesting, to upgrade the services you have, whether it be food, beverage, gaming, accommodation. To stay current, as well as to improve,” says Daniel.
“We knew there were legs in some of the revenue streams that could increase. Even in the short time that we’ve relaunched, that’s already proven to be true. This hotel has always had a very strong reputation with food, and it remains to be that now. It was probably more regards to gaming and beverage that we wanted to increase the numbers,” says Daniel.
COMING TOGETHER
The Nissens acknowledge the project was about three years from concept and planning to fruition.
“It took us a while to find the right architect, the right builder and get the finances together. It takes longer than overnight,” says Daniel.
To ease those numbers, the Nissens made the unusual decision to keep the public bar open throughout the renovations.
Public bar with commissioned and historic photographs
Photo credit: Guy Davies
“Having the bar open during renovations certainly allowed us to maintain an income and support some of our employees through that period,” says Daniel. “To be fair, it paid a good few wages. It may have been better for us to close for a period of time, shortening the period of the build, but as it turned out, when we tabled it with the builder and the architect… the impact was negligible and they didn’t have any concerns.”
Though the gaming room and the public bar were still functioning through the refurb, the kitchen was much reduced. The Nissens introduced a scaled-down menu and turned to local businesses for support, and found them only too willing to come on board.
“We were lucky, we approached a number of other businesses to help us with the food,” says Zelman.
THE COMMUNITY GATHERS
“A food truck from an ex-employee would come down for big functions. Salt Meats Cheese helped us out for pub trivia nights,” says Zelman. “A sushi place helped out with functions and The Burger Project helped us out on occasion. That worked out really well for us and kept things ticking over. Some people want a bit of simplicity with the food and were quite happy to have a range of pizzas.”
“The local people in the area, business people, it’s not for everyone [having a partly-closed pub], but some of them enjoyed the process, seeing the different phases it was going through,” says Daniel.
“If I was going to repeat it somewhere else, and it wasn’t going to slow me down, I’d definitely do it again,” says Daniel. “It paid a good few bills while we were trading.”
NAME CHANGE
Did the change of hotel name represent a significant change of direction to marry up with the major works?
“[It was] The Australian Youth Inn when it was built in 1860 and first listed in 1862,” says Zelman. “Then it changed its name to ‘hotel’. Australia was in a very youthful time and that’s how it got its name. But as time progresses, the ‘youth’ didn’t do us a lot of favours.
Two roasts are on offer each Sunday
Photo credit: Guy Davies
“A lot of people think – when they’re scouring the internet – that we’re just a youth hostel, very different from our actual offering. We wanted to position ourselves better in the community for today. This area [Glebe] has a lot of history, and this pub has a lot of history. We feel that The Glebe Hotel suits it and aligns us in the community.”
That community is well-represented in the décor and spirit of the pub. A bespoke jacaranda mural by Sydney artist Indigo Jo adorns a wall on The Stables restaurant. Trophies have pride of place in the bar, representing those local clubs the hotel sponsors.
“They can put their trophies up on the walls and make it feel more inclusive,” says Zelman. “Sydney Irish tag teams, Dubroyd FC, NSW uni hockey team. It’s about getting involved with clubs, they’re part of the community and they love coming back.”
CAPTURING THE PAST
Meanwhile the Nissens discovered old photographs from local 1970s photographer Leon Gregory of Glebe locals to adorn a seating area in the public bar. They also went further back.
“We’ve got some dating back to the early 1900s,” says Zelman, “when there was a bit of a plague in Sydney and they took a lot of images before buildings were pulled down. This whole area was pretty much rebuilt. There’s actually an image down by the fireplace of the pub from 1906.
“I’m scouring through hundreds of photos and see two kids with their billy carts. I look harder and see the pub, that’s us. The façade is exactly the same. Then there’s a Greek photographer, he’s really passionate about the suburb of Glebe, he lives here himself. He has a body called Welcome to Glebe and he takes photos of store owners and local people. We’ve put canvases up of some of those people and we had locals taking photos of locals. We wanted yesteryear but we also wanted today.”
The Nissens are hoping to continue to attract a wide customer base of locals and local businesses.
Dining room with mural by Sydney artist Indigo Jo
Photo credit: Guy Davies
“We’re a public house, first and foremost,” says Daniel. “We welcome everyone that comes through the door. We’ve traded for sixplus years here now, we do cater for a lot of local businesses, strong lunch trade and early evening trade. We’ve tried to pick the weekends up with the local clubs.”
“We’re really trying to give the business crowd a venue to come back to again,” says Zelman. “And they have been coming back. After the renovation, people have been flocking back in.”
BACK TO SUCCESS
Both Nissens are clearly delighted with how the renovations have turned out.
“The dining room, the beer garden and the food all come together,” says Daniel. “I couldn’t see it on the plans, but it really has tidied it very, very well. We’ve got that big [centenary fig] tree in the courtyard, all lit up with fairy lights in the evening, it just looks amazing to me. I think retaining those key historical elements, all that brickwork that’s in The Stables, getting rid of the men’s toilet and turning it into a bar, well lit, well-presented. Fireplaces are still in the pub, which is great.”
Steak and Guinness pie
Photo credit: Guy Davies
Two roasts are on offer each Sunday
Photo credit: Guy Davies
Alexander & Co associate Sophie Harris agrees, saying: “The courtyard at dusk is easily my favourite spot. The simplicity yet effectiveness of warm fairy lights, softened landscaping and a few special vignettes create a functional, yet considered spot for a beautiful pub dinner.”
“The gaming room came out amazingly well,” says Daniel. “So was every area that we’ve addressed. I’m incredibly happy with what’s been produced here. All the feedback from people who have come in thus far, they’re blown away. But don’t take my word for it – have a look for yourself.”
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DESIGN AND MATERIALS
Sophie Harris, Associate with designers Alexander & Co, says:
• A robust and tactile palette was used throughout in a negotiation of existing masculine bones, with the addition of playful feminine accents.
• The Stables restaurant celebrates existing bricks in combination with pietra grey cobblestones, a zinc and black-wood bar and hand-painted painted timber doors.
• The courtyard uses a patchwork of retained paving and accented floor finishes with washed timber furnishings.
• The front bar retains the existing textured timber panelling and is freshened with highlighted paint details and honest furnishings.
