Coronado Hotel

Statement of Significance

SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE The Highway Hotel has significance as a place where country people stayed and as a place of social interaction which has demonstrated changing ways of life through its history. HISTORICAL The significance of the architects involved in the design of the place and their varying roles. The historical development of Stirling Highway in Claremont. AESTHETIC The architectural importance of the Highway Hotel is significant in its strong Dudock design influence. The streetscape value of the place is significant in terms of the appropriate response in scale and proportion to the adjacent structures ad the stron horizontal element which wraps the corner to address two streets. The place has a landmark presence in Stirling Highway. RARITY & REPRESENTATIVENESS The Highway hotel is a unique example of the Dudok influence. The place is one of the very few remaining examples of hotels of the modern design ethos of its period.

Physical Description

The Highway Hotel has a strong corner presence, yet addresses Stirling Highway with a bold statement. The two story building balances the smooth concrete horizontal elements of the first floor balcony and the parapet, with the recessed spaces on the ground floor and the first floor, The smooth moulded concrete curves extend uninterrupted around the corner to extend the length of the building down Bay Rd. The sweeping curves of the horizontal emphasis of the hotels is countered by the blocked vertical towers central to the highway elevation. The vertical block tower with a stepped tower behind it, grounds the structure and gives a scale and proportion to the building. The building façade show and architectural style influenced by the Dutch cubist architect Dudok. The interior of the hotel original boasted two double suites with ensuites, and nineteen other rooms with hot and cold water accessories. The design facilitated maximum sunshine and air into the rooms at all times of day. The rooms opening on to the long curving balcony or flanked the beer garden at the back. The bars were modern in the extreme, with drop ceilings, terrazzo floors and fanciful neon lighting. The staircase with its wrought iron balustrading is an elegant design by Marshall Clifton. The curved glass block wall against which the staircase gracefully curves upwards have since been replaced with clear glass. An internal inspection of the hotel in c 1980s revealed that many of the accommodation room fittings were still in place. The condition, integrity and authenticity of the interior of the place has not been determined at this time

History

Assessment 1995 Architects: Reginald Summerhayes, Marshall Clifton, Allan Gamble Builder: Plunketts Constructed 1940, alterations and additions: bottle shop c.1980 The assessment excludes the interior deemed to no longer have integrity or authenticity, the bottle shop canopy and TAB addition on the western end of the Stirling Highway frontage. There is some debate with regard to the author of the design of the Highway Hotel. Reginald Summerhayes and Marshall Clifton were working in association at the time that they were commissioned to undertake the design. During the period that the Highway Hotel was designed they also designed the Civic Hotel in Inglewood and the Swanbourne Hotel. The design of the Highway Hotel façade has been attributed to Allan Gamble. Allan Gamble was and ex-public works cadet and colleague of Clifton’s. He was also a significant architect and artist in his own right and was the first full time lecturer to be appointed to the School of Architecture at the University of Sydney. The Highway Hotel may be important in terms of the career of Allan Gamble. The sculptor Edward Kohler modelled an imitation bronze statuette of a nymph which featured on a pedestal in the beer garden. When the hotel opened in 1940, it was hailed as a “modernly equipped Residential hotel with every facility for comfort and convenience, with the best service of any hotel in the state…embody the latest features in hotel construction…the water system is entirely new and is the first of its kind in the Commonwealth.” The Highway Hotel was the largest construction project undertaken to date by Plunketts builders who had been residential builders for forty years. The hotel was a popular destination for country people to stay in the city. More recently the hotel was a popular venue for younger people as the Coronado. The large crowds which were attracted to the hotel drew complaints from nearby residents and the local council. The Claremont Council reported the hotel to the Licensing authorities for the second time, for allegedly excessive noise. In 1994 operations at the hotel ceased and it has since laid vacant. (as at 1995) Note: now used as commercial premises

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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