Australian Capital Territory
Hotel Mottainai calls attention to an empty space in an age of homelessness and escalating house prices.
Recycling in an age of excess. Art in an age of disconnection. All powered by the strength of community mobilisation.
Mottainai – a Japanese word that describes a feeling of regret when something of value is wasted.
Hotel Mottainai is an art gallery designed as a pop-up hotel room inserted into an unused office building in Canberra’s CBD. It is an immersive experience, fitted out in donated and recycled materials.
The Jury was impressed by the polemical approach to design in the community and the architects’ ability to successfully negotiate the regulatory restrictions that often suppresses innovation in adaptive reuse.
Hotel Mottainai calls attention to an empty space in an age of homelessness and escalating house prices.
Recycling in an age of excess. Art in an age of disconnection. All powered by the strength of community mobilisation.
Ronan Moss, Design Architect
360 Degree Fire, Fire consultant
Ambius, Indoor Plants
Badgery & Rafferty, Legal consultant
BCA Certifiers, Certifier
Bentspoke, Financial support
Canberra Town Planning, Town Planner
Capital Advisory, Financial consultant
Electra, Cabling Consultant
HTI Grouop, Developer
Lightbulb studio, Photography services
Ronbo Glass, Glazier
Screenmakers, Screen consultant
Stylecraft, Supplier of commercial furniture
The Plumbing Pope, Plumbing consultant
YWCA, Charity Partner
The Australian Institute of Architects acknowledges First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waters, and skies of the continent now called Australia.
We express our gratitude to their Elders and Knowledge Holders whose wisdom, actions and knowledge have kept culture alive.
We recognise First Nations peoples as the first architects and builders. We appreciate their continuing work on Country from pre-invasion times to contemporary First Nations architects, and respect their rights to continue to care for Country.
