I remember my first real work trip. I was about 24 and I had been sent interstate to attend a conference on small business and finance, which was about as riveting as it sounds. For four excruciating days, each 14 hours long, I made the awkward trek from my hotel (which was located inside the convention centre) to the main hall, where I watched with great intrigue as office workers from across the country postulated, bickered, networked and ultimately drank too much complimentary red wine. It was a brutal initiation to corporate life that has stayed with me for years, but of all the things I recall about that trip, and the subsequent 12 more I did over the next three years, it was that I was just so bloody hungry.
Not in an ‘addicted to the grind, hustle culture’ kind of way, but in the true famished, starving, desperate for nourishment sense. You see, when you man a booth at these kinds of events, you often arrive at the venue long before the cafés open and stay until long after the restaurants close. There isn’t much time in between and while the convention centre sandwiches will tide you over, dinner time is always lacking. By the time you finally get back to your hotel room and scrub the dozens of awkward conversations from your brain, it’s all you can do to stay awake long enough to order Uber Eats.
Which is precisely the predicament that Paramart, the unique new venture from Sydney’s Paramount House Hotel, is aiming to solve. Part vending machine, part mini-mart, the project is a decidedly Australian take on the convenience culture of 24-hour cities like Tokyo and Seoul. Paramart is open day and night, to both hotel guests and the public, and offers a range of delicious goodies, sweet treats and nostalgic nods to the milk bars we all grew up frequenting. According to architects Wendy Tong, Anna Wu and Kevin Sun from AWA Studio, the team behind the build, the goal was an immersive blend of cultures and convenience.
Paramount Sydney
“Milk-bar culture was about being local, accessible, and a place to explore,“ the architects explained. “We wanted to recreate the feeling of going to the milk-bar after school to see what’s the latest snack.“
The philosophy flows through the entirety of the design. The outside is characterised by a streetscape illuminated by a bright Paramart sign and mirrored door. From there, you encounter a tiled portal that references the facades of the classic milk-bar. Even the dots of the coloured tiles have been considered, with AWA Studio explaining these were inspired by the sprinkles you seen on a piece of Fairy Bread.
The result is a playful take on Aussie nostalgia that feels right at home in the bustling urban oasis that is Surry Hills. The vending machines that line the interior of Paramart stand out like a beacon of light against the concrete jungle just outside the door and what they hold is just as fun.
Not only does Paramart offer food and drinks, but you can also use tokens to rent Nintendo Game Boys, chess sets, tarot cards, cassette players and even a pocket-sized drum machine. Not a bad selection for such an itsy-bitsy addition.
“One of the biggest challenges was to fit in all these vending machines, but not make the space feel cramped,“ AWA Studio wrote. “The full-length mirror in the back plays a really important role. The mirror not only serves to lengthen the space visually, but also hides important storage space. The store is also situated in a very dark corner, so interesting colours make Paramart “pop out” from the darkness. The effect of the brightly coloured interior contrasted with the grey concrete exterior makes the space feel larger.“
For corporate travellers, the role of the humble hotel has changed and additions like Paramart are a great example of why. Guests are not always just looking for a place to stay; sometimes the role of hospitality is to make a new city feel like home, and what better way to do that than with a Nintendo and a Negroni?
More Art & Design Stories
Interested in reading more art and design news, reviews and guides? MADE Journal has you covered. In addition to our architecture and design features, we publish regular content focused on new exhibitions, restoration projects and community developments that work alongside local communities. Check out some of our other art and design coverage:
- ‘Collecting Ourselves’: The Search for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Lost Objects
- The Underground Art Scene at the End of the World
- Step Inside Thebe Magugu’s Afro-Modernist Sanctuary
- Fashion Designer Dries Van Noten is Defending Craftsmanship
- How Rachael Gowdridge Turned a Public Toilet into the UK’s Hottest New Hotel
- Never-Before-Seen David Lynch Artworks to Reveal the Artist Beyond Film
