Wrest Point deals a slice of luxury

Wrest Point casino’s revamp includes luxuries like the installation of two swirling life-size Swarovski-crystal encrusted peacocks in the cocktail lounge. Picture: Supplied

One of the highlights of Irish-born architect Andrew O’Connell’s recent renovation of much of Hobart’s Wrest Point Casino was the installation of two swirling life-size Swarovski crystal-encrusted peacocks in the Birdcage Cocktail Bar and Lounge.

Watched over by two heritage-listed Charles Billich frescoes featuring dancing cabaret girls near the reception of Australia’s first legal casino, the bar is one of the most famous in Hobart, if not Australia.

“It’s iconic to Wrest Point – that’s why we spent so much energy revitalising that area,” says O’Connell, principal of Sydney-based firm Altis Architecture, one of the key design groups responsible for the $65m spent renovating the casino over the past four years.

All up, Altis was responsible for the rejig of the casino’s waterfront boardwalk area including the installation of a new restaurant, cafe, some gaming areas, a new sports bar as well as the main casino level, the upper casino floor, and the hotel reception. Wrest Point casino’s revamp includes luxuries like the installation of two swirling life-size Swarovski-crystal encrusted peacocks in the cocktail lounge.

Wrest Point casino’s revamp includes luxuries like the installation of two swirling life-size Swarovski-crystal encrusted peacocks in the cocktail lounge. Picture: Supplied

Outside, the firm was responsible for the water feature in the hotel’s forecourt as well as the cascading feature and gardens of the casino, which is owned by the Federal Group which, in turn, is controlled by the Farrell family.

“This is one of those casinos which is unique in that it looks over the (Derwent) river, the palette of materials are light, as, often, casinos are quite dark,” O’Connell says.

“It celebrates that you look over the river. It’s got not just gaming, it’s got live music, a cocktail bar – it’s really designed for a night out.”

Apart from the significant renovations, O’Connell was also charged with creating new restaurant Longhorn. He took his inspiration from Robbins Island, off Tasmania’s north coast, where the Hammond family has been breeding Japanese full-blood Wagyu cattle for the past 20 years and supplies the meat for the restaurant.

“It’s geared around a southern smokehouse approach to food. The nice thing about the restaurant is it’s broken up into four zones and even on a quiet night you can get comfortable. There are smaller spaces,” he says.

“The nice thing is Federal Group CEO Greg Farrell is a great collector and he has collected branding irons from around the world (to decorate the restaurant). The restaurant also uses metal studs, recycled timber, and has a real kind of barn-style feel in a modern way.”

In January, the casino celebrated a half century of operation. Since opening in 1973, it has attracted some of the world’s biggest acts, including Tina Turner, Jerry Lewis and Shirley Bassey. As well, it was also a favourite venue for ALP national conferences in the 1980s and ’90s.

Farrell has been overseeing the casino and hotel’s renovation for several years and expects to finish by the end of the year.

But in planning the renovations, he and his family have been careful not to “cannibalise” the operations of their other Tasmanian casinos and hotels, which dot the Hobart CBD as well as the outer reaches of the Apple Isle.

These include the luxury Saffire Freycinet Lodge at Coles Bay, the Henry Jones Art Hotel and MACq 01 Hotel in Hobart, and the Country Club Casino near Launceston.

Farrell says his up-market Hobart-based hotels Henry Jones and MACq 01 attract slightly different types of leisure clientele, slightly different age groups and people with slightly different aspirations.

But he has ensured that the Wrest Point Casino, 2.5km from the Hobart CBD and with commanding views over the Derwent River, and its accompanying 269-room art deco hotel tower, will not compete with his other tourism attractions.

“We don’t believe Wrest Point will cannibalise them,” Farrell told The Australian in January. “We have tried to put a lot of effort into ensuring that we don’t cannibalise the market.

“There is a lot of leisure business that comes into Hobart, and we’re more than competitive in ensuring that Wrest Point Casino remains at high occupancies and very high levels of satisfaction.”