Hilton Melbourne Little Queen Street
CASE STUDY:Hilton Hotels & Resorts + Bates Smart
clientlocationMelbourne, Australia
Art Strategy + Artist Curation + Creative Production
SCOPE4 Site-Specific Artworks - 1000+ sqm Art Installed
scope01 overviewWhere Melbourne Street Art Meets Heritage and High End Hospitality
Hilton Melbourne Little Queen Street occupies the heritage-listed Equity Chambers, designed by Oakley and Parkes and completed in 1931.
The redevelopment carefully restored the building’s historic architectural character while introducing a contemporary six-level extension and 16-storey hotel tower.
With the hotel’s principal arrival positioned on Little Queen Street, Hilton and Bates Smart saw an opportunity to transform an underused CBD laneway into a distinctly Melbourne guest experience.
Juddy Roller was engaged to curate and produce an integrated collection of contemporary artworks across the hotel’s exterior, event and interior spaces - connecting Hilton’s international hospitality identity with Melbourne’s globally recognised urban culture.
03 the collaborationThree Artists. Four Artworks. One Integrated Hotel Experience.
The commission brought together Melbourne artists Kitt Bennett and David Lee Pereira with French artist Adrian Ladmiral to create a collection grounded in the energy, colour and creative identity of Melbourne.
At the Little Queen Street entrance, Kitt Bennett collaborated with Adrian Ladmiral to create a 675 square meter arrival moment at the Hotels entrance, that perfectly captures the dynamic’s architecture, culture, style and hospitality that Melbourne is best known for.
Additional works by Kitt Bennett and David Lee Pereira extended the experience across the hotel’s event terrace and interior spaces, and a 9-story lightwell mural, creating a cohesive artistic journey from the street into the building.
02 the challengeThe art needed to feel unmistakably Melbourne, at the same time, seamlessly integrating with the heritage architecture.
The challenge was to bring the authenticity of Melbourne’s street art laneways into a refined five-star hotel environment without reducing it to decoration or compromising the refined architectural concept and interior.
What the Project required Develop a public art response that respected the heritage significance of Equity Chambers while contributing a contemporary layer to the redevelopment.
Curate artists whose work could authentically represent Melbourne’s creative identity within an international luxury-hospitality environment.
Transform the Little Queen Street entrance into a memorable cultural gateway and activate a previously underused CBD laneway.
Create a direct visual relationship between the entrance mural and Bates Smart’s faceted bronze façade, allowing the artwork to be reflected and fragmented across the architecture.
Extend the art program across exterior, event and interior spaces to create one coherent guest experience.
Coordinate artist concepts, stakeholder approvals, surfaces, access and installation within a complex heritage hotel redevelopment site.
4
1000+
3
1936
unqiue artworksSqaure Meters artworkartistsheritage listed chambers site
04 outcomesA uniquely Melbourne arrival moment for Hilton Melbourne Little Queen St
→ Transformed the Little Queen Street entrance into a distinctive cultural arrival experience rooted in Melbourne’s laneway and street art identity.
→ Extended the art program across the laneway, event terrace and interior spaces, creating a consistent creative experience throughout the hotel.
→ Embedded the primary mural within the architectural experience, with its colour and imagery reflected across the hotel’s faceted bronze façade and drawn visually into the lobby.
→ Connected an international hospitality brand with local culture through an artist-led response that felt authentic, site-specific and architecturally resolved.
→ Created one of the hotel’s most recognisable visual features, subsequently highlighted throughout travel, hospitality and design coverage.
Contemporary Art Embedded in the Guest Experience
This project demonstrates Juddy Roller’s ability to integrate contemporary public art into architecturally significant hospitality developments.
By combining art strategy, artist curation, creative development and end-to-end production, Juddy Roller created a collection that responded to the building, the architecture and the experience of arriving in Melbourne.
The heritage building remained central to the design. Contemporary art introduced a new cultural layer—connecting the hotel’s past with the creative identity of the city surrounding it.
Explore how Juddy Roller curated six large-scale murals for Indi Footscray, embedding contemporary public art throughout a major build-to-rent development.
Ready to discuss public art for your hotel, development or precinct? Book a discovery call to explore the possibilities.