Directors behind two of Sydney’s hottest hospitality groups, House Made Hospitality and Liquid & Larder, will take to the stage at Design Inn Symposium at Hilton Adelaide on Tuesday May 6, to discuss the power of buzzy food and beverage venues.
With sky-high consumer expectations around food and beverage, it has never been more important for hotels to invest in bars and restaurants that can lure both locals and travellers all year round.
Get an exclusive look inside Australia’s top hotel projects at Design Inn Symposium
In a conversation hosted by QCC Collection Founder and Managing Director, Caspar Schmidt, House Made Hospitality Co-Founder & Director, Jason Williams, and Liquid & Larder Founder & Director, James Bradey, will discuss their leading hotel projects and collaboration with major hotel operators and owners.
House Made Hospitality is the group behind Sofitel Sydney Wentworth’s revamped food and beverage offering, with four new food and beverage venues launched late last year offering a variety of unique experiences.
Restaurant Tilda offers a “laid-back yet elegant Australiana vibe”, while Bar Tilda serves up “nostalgia-inspired cocktails and the soulful sounds of a nu jazz band”. Delta Rue celebrates Vietnamese-French flavours, and rooftop venue Wentworth Bar features features an all-weather terrace.
Liquid & Larder – the team responsible for popular venues such as Bistecca, The Gidley, The Rover and Alfie’s – serves as the exclusive food and beverage partner for Sydney’s latest boutique hotel, The Eve.
Contemporary Mexican rooftop restaurant and Mezcaleria, Lottie, and European-inspired neighbourhood hotel bar, Bar Julius, began welcoming their first patrons in January, two weeks ahead of the official hotel opening.
View the 2025 Design Inn Symposium program and register now.
Technology, refurbishments, adaptive reuse and more
Technology will also be a key focus at Design Inn Symposium this year, with design and technology leaders taking to the stage to discuss the impact of AI on design.
With artificial intelligence advancing at breakneck speed, speakers will argue for and against its use in hotel design. This debate will explore whether AI can transform hotel design through innovation and efficiency, or whether it will undermine the human touch that makes hospitality so special.
Moderated by Ivan Sunde, Chief Executive Officer, Onyx ASW, speakers include Andrew Lymn-Penning, Lecturer, Architecture, UniSA Creative; Ashley Hastings, Studio Design Technology Leader, Woods Bagot; Dominic Gaetani, Director, DKO; Julie Ockerby, Creative Director & Principal | CEO, Meli Studio; Sander Versluis, Project Director, UNStudio; and Steven Cassells, Director, Neuron.
Refurbishments will also be a hot topic, with Shape presenting a Masterclass on the subject.
Hosted by Guy Blunden, Director – Client Services, WMK Architecture, the session titled, Refurbishments That Works: Where the Money Goes and How to Make It Count, will feature Andrew Pickering, Commercial Manager, Shape; Catherine Hart, Senior Design Manager, TOGA, Grace Lei Guo, Director, Stack Studio; and Marie Colangelo, Project Director, Repositioning Projects, Salter Brothers.
The Co-Founders of charity ReLove will also present a keynote on Defits That Do Good.
Architect Ren Fernando and former investment banker Ben Stammer teamed up in 2019 to launch ReLove – a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping people in need rebuild their lives and homes. ReLove partners with hotels to rescue high-quality furniture from landfill during refurbishments, redirecting it to families affected by domestic violence, people experiencing homelessness, and individuals seeking asylum. In this keynote presentation, discover how ReLove is creating meaningful change – for people, for the planet, and for the hospitality industry’s bottom line.
Adaptive reuse, namely office-to-hotel conversions, will be discussed in depth with experts in this are unpacking the challenges and opportunities for owners and designers. This session, hosted by Angela Biddle, Principal, FK, will feature Audrey De Filippis, Associate Director, Athena Blue Global; Richard Dalman, Managing Director & Principal, Dalman Architects; Brenton Smith, Director, Bates Smart; and Kristi Wayman, Director of Design and Technical Services, Pro-invest Group.
Delegates can also expect a thought-provoking panel session on creative control in an evolving hotel landscape. In a panel session titled Design Decision Makers, hosted by Juliet Ashworth, Partner & Creative Director, CHADA, speakers will discuss the delicate dance between designer, brand, operator and owner, and who gets the final say on design decisions. Speakers include Amelia Donald, Associate Director of Interior Design, Bates Smart; Jana Higgs, Director, Design & Technical Services – Luxury Pacific, Accor; Jessica Gould, Senior Associate, SA Lead, Construction Assignments; Kelly Best, Development Manager, ICD Property; and Michael Drescher, Director, DKO.