The Business Hotel
A LABOUR OF COLOURFUL LOVE
When you think ‘Revolver’ or ‘Revs’ you don’t associate “wow I had the most productive work day of my life!” No. Not at all. When you hear the R word rolled off the tongue you associate a very specific experience. One had nowhere else. There are people across all states of Australia, maybe the world, and genuinely across different generations that have been to Revs at some point in their life… it is, an institution.
But this building doesn’t give away its other big secrets when you stand outside looking in from the street. Revolver Lane is its name, and providing an amazing space to work, meet, create and play is its game.
Whilst the Chapel Street windows show a heavily decorated and colourful shop front - you are still very unaware of what lies beyond the flamingo pink door (and believe me its huge). Worth a mention that just before that particular door there is a small running cafe that will service your heavy, deep and desirable caffeine needs. Once that door opens, you step into a consistent scene of creative suites, offices, pockets, nooks, hidey holes and meeting rooms, each one significantly different to the next.
For someone like me who has an anxiety attack in a plain white room, this place is heaven. Nothing is matched, nothing is the same, but trust me when I say...everything goes together. The furniture alone will make you swoon, an addiction that I have (gladly) seen take over my friend Kurt Falkenstein's life over the past four years. He is the man behind this ingenious approach to co-working as well as the founder of specialist startup lawyers General Standards.
During COVID, with the Revolver nightclub closed and people prohibited from going to their offices, Kurt reimagined Revolver Lane as a space that melded work, meetings, creativity and fun as a flexible, on-demand service. He wanted the experience of going to a hotel "as place with everything you need to sleep" to be carried over to the workplace with "everything you need to do a great day's work", including an amazing restaurant and bar to enjoy upstairs after you've finished for the day (being Revolver Upstairs). The result is The Business Hotel by Revolver Lane.
Like my mentioned anxiety on white rooms before (yuk), I like to work in inspiring places. I think the reason my house is so heavily designed and decorated is because I have worked out that I function best in creative spaces. I need colour, things, artwork, pieces and interesting things around me to help build concepts and generate new brain things. He understood that there are enough co-working spaces that service the simple, clean and monochromic needs of the clients who work best in these spaces, but then there are us that need a dramatic space.
Revolver Lane has been a labour of love over several years and has seen such a vast range of small businesses and large companies take up space in this visual paradise. The plant situation will make you wee your pants and the furniture will assist your Instagram stories - no doubt about it.
What I want to spend some REAL TIME talking about, is The Business Hotel. “The Business Hotel is Revolver Lane’s imagining of flexible workday experience. Stay by the day (sorry no sleepovers) in a private, COVID safe workspace to do your best work - whether that be creative or professional (or both). With full office and creative amenities, technology, resources and an endless variety of furniture, art, objects and plants, Revolver Lane creates a fully tailored work environment embellished with uncompromising personal service.” It’s a hotel for your workspace. You can stay for a day, a week, a month, a year. You can change offices, record video or audio content, do photo shoots, set up board meetings - oh the list goes on and on! People can book access to the premises, meeting rooms, desks, photo/video/audio studios, event spaces, class rooms etc on an hourly, daily or monthly basis.
They offer a membership that includes up to 10 hours of access every month, discounts on all bookings (you can book a photo studio for $50/hr - hello!), and invites to all exclusive community events, parties and excursions, including regular Friday night drinks in the Atrium.
Beautiful original art and prints from the likes of Ben Frost, Cameron Holmes, Stephen Baker, Dennis Ropar and Anthony Lister An extensive collection of vintage and new Eames furniture (as featured in this Living Edge photoshoot) and a dazzling collection of vintage furniture from Smith Street Bazaar, Chapel Street Bazaar, Kelly Thomspon, Jolie Laide, Curated Spaces and Dust Vintage to name a few. The Studios and Gallery were designed by Melbourne architect Ben Waters.
This option is outstanding for creative business types small businesses that want to hold meetings or curate a break from working at home without the pressures of signing a full time commercial lease. You get the flexibility of securing a space and utilising it with your time constraints in conjunction working in an inspiring and community motivated environment. Socially you are able to meet and network with other businesses that reside in the Hotel Revolver Lane, but at the same time people respect and understand that everyone is there to work.
YEAH BUT WHAT ON EARTH DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH P MAMI? Well….everything!
Kurt allowed me the absolute pleasure of getting my mits all over one room as he brung the The Business Hotel concept to life. Apart from building plant jungles, I love building interiors equally, and sometimes if not more. My home (seen here) is an absolute expression of my creativity and an opportunity to mix colours and different things. Whilst this is fun…it also has an end point. I mean HOW MANY TIMES can one person paint a room? Me…22 times.
So what a pleasure it was when I was called and asked to let wild on a new project. ‘The Blue Room’ I named it (no shit sherlock), sitting smuggly between the yellow room and the burgundy room. The brief from him to me: “do whatever the fuck you want!” And lets be very very clear, as a creative person, there is no higher honour than letting that stallion run wild and DO ALL THE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO.
The whole room was to be painted a jarring strong blue, with orange floors and a wall mural, done by yours truly. OF COURSE I used my favourite paint people in the whole world TINT. These guys are a local Melbourne paint business that is so excellent and run by a bunch of absolute legends. Their ‘sticker sample’ concept has saved me painting lots of tiny paint lines across all my walls and their GENIUS paint matching staff are 140% wholly responsible for the beautiful colours you see splashed across this room. I worked with the team for a few weeks until we nailed the brief on our blues, oranges, caramels, burgundies and yellows. I cannot recommend these guys enough, they have been used in my home, at Pasta Club and across lots of other projects and fix ups. Late last year I ordered some paint online and it arrived in an hour…. LIKE IF THAT IS NOT EFFICIENCY THEN I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS. Love you TINT, you will forever be my paint gods. And I still cannot again, get over how lovely their staff are!
The furniture is tiled (signature P Mami DUH) and there are random sculptures and artwork scattering throughout the room. Different textures and different shapes everywhere with every angle a photograph waiting to happen.
It is a lot. A very very visually hectic room. Some people LOVE it, and some people feel uncomfortable in it. I’ve been okay leaning into people not liking this one entirely. I knew that its wildness might enhance some people's creativity, and destroy others. But with The Business Hotels tagline being “Work Weird’ I felt like this was the place to come out and play. (I can confirm that if you are one of those people who may be overwhelmed by the Blue Room, Kurt has ensured there is a decor and style to suit every taste.)
What more is happening at Revolver Lane? WELL! We are very stoked and excited to host our next season of Pasta Clubs in this ridiculously beautiful space as we explore what the south side and its local contributors have to offer!! Sit under the atrium glass roof and amongst the plethora of plants and have our very special social experience!
More to reveal and come on this, as we expand our Pasta Parties out and into the community.
TO BOOK THE GREATEST WORK DAY OF YOUR LIFE…. SEE HERE
and I shall see you there soon!
Love always with rigatoni in mind,
P Mami/ CEO of Spag xxx
