Located in Hobart’s artfully refurbished Parliament Square, the Tasman Hotel is one of Tasmania’s most historic buildings. In fact, the hotel itself resides within multiple repurposed heritage buildings and incorporates 180 years of architecture dating back to the 1840’s Georgian period, through to the 1930’s Art Deco and now, the contemporary glass pavilion.

It was important that the building’s rich architectural history be referenced in the design of the hotel, with the restoration of existing fireplaces, windows and original artworks paying homage to Hobart’s pioneering and seafaring past.

Sydney-based firms FJMT, Project Architect for Parliament Square, and Joseph Pant Design Consultants, collaborated to introduce a common thread using native Tasmanian materials. FJMT Principal David Haesler says the firm’s design approach was first to reveal and restore the site’s “valuable fabric” by removing unsympathetic additions and open it up to public access and enjoyment.

In a move to restore elements of the building’s original story, 25 gas fireplaces were incorporated into the design of the hotel, bringing with them all of comforts of flame, hearth, and home.

Designing the fireplaces into the hotel presented a unique challenge — the flue systems would need to be executed in such a way that the tall, historic chimneys were preserved, in keeping with the time-honoured aesthetic of the building.

Escea responded to this challenge by reviewing primary testing data to confirm the solutions offered would conform. Escea’s commitment to product support proved to be the defining factor in the project’s success as no other product could match the required specification.

Rosetta Plumbing’s Robert Pearhouse liaised with Escea to ensure the fireplace installations could be achieved to brief. “The entire team at Escea were brilliant to deal with,” Pearhouse said, “from expert product knowledge to the custom flue design, no challenge was too much for them.”

The fireplaces

Escea fireplaces are a popular choice for commercial developments like this. Designed from the outset to meet the highest efficiency in sealed room envelopes, they offer a safe and visually exceptional fireplace experience.

Escea was able to respond to the challenge of flue termination thanks to their Direct Vent Power flues which have very few limitations, with the flexibility to be run in any direction, from 600mm to 40m long.

A total of 25 Escea DF and DS Series gas fireplaces feature throughout the private rooms and common areas of the hotel, including 17 DF700s, four DF960s, one DS1150, two DS1650s and one Double-sided DS1900 Gas Fireplace.

Updating the hotel with modern, innovative Escea gas fireplaces ticked all the boxes for authority consent as they are all room-sealed, safe and reliable, with no chance of gas by-products spilling into the space.

Escea Gas Fireplaces also feature Zero Clearance technology, allowing them to be surrounded in almost any material. This facilitated the architects to respond to each space, with a wide range of surround materials chosen for the different fireplaces, complementing the rich design history of the hotel.

“The wide range of installation finishes throughout the fireplaces in The Tasman were only made possible by the range of tested solutions offered by Escea — from their Direct Vent Power Flues to Zero Clearance rating,” said Richard Miller

Ultimately, the combination of passionate designers, dedicated to honouring decades of architectural and social history — and the technological sophistication of Escea’s fireplace range has resulted in an ode to the past, that can be enjoyed in the present, and by future generations to come.

“Escea were the perfect choice of gas heater for this iconic, award-winning hotel. As a design and construct project, we could not have asked for better than Escea,” said Robert Pearhouse.