Hotel Australia to Oberoi Adelaide: The Transnational History of an Adelaide Hotel

In the decades following the war, the spread of international luxury chain hotels was instrumental in shaping the global image of modernity. It was not simply the export of modernist architecture as a style, but rather a process which brought about an overall transformation of the industry and culture surrounding modern domesticity. For Adelaide, well before the arrival of large brand hotel chains like Hilton and Hyatt, this process was initiated by the construction of its first international style hotel in 1960 – Australia Hotel. The proposed paper traces the history of this structure and its impact not only on local design and construction industries but also on domestic culture and lifestyle after the shadow period of recovery after the war. This paper looks at three specific enduring legacies of this structure that went well beyond the modernist aesthetics employed by its original designers, the local firm of Lucas, Parker and Partners. The hotel was one of the first to employ the new technology of lift-slab construction and was recognised by the Head of Architecture at the University of Adelaide, Professor Jensen, as the outstanding building of 1960. It is argued that it was the engagement with such technological and process innovations that has allowed the building to endure through several renovation attempts. In her study of Hilton International hotels, Annabelle Wharton argues how architecture was used for America’s expansion to global economic and political power. Following on from her arguments, this paper explores the implications of the acquisition of the Australia Hotel by the Indian hotel chain Oberoi Hotels in the late 1970s when it became Oberoi Adelaide. The patronage of Indian hotelier Mohan Singh Oberoi came alongside the parallel acquisition of Hotel Windsor in Melbourne, heralding a new era of engagement with Asia. Finally, the paper also highlights the broader impact of this hotel, as a leisure venue for the burgeoning middle class, on the evolving domestic culture of Adelaide.