Located on Victoria’s Surf Coast, Surf Hotel is a reimagining of Torquay’s iconic Surf City Motel. Developed by Blackwood, the project transformed a long-standing Surf Coast landmark into a contemporary hospitality destination, combining accommodation, food, drink and culture within a renewed coastal setting.

Services

  • Art Direction
  • Brand Identity
  • Brand System
  • Copywriting
  • Creative Direction
  • Custom Typeface
  • Graphic Design
  • Naming
  • Photography
  • Signage & Wayfinding
  • Storytelling
  • Strategy

Credits

Photography: Josh Robenstone
Signage: Anchor Signs

BRIEF

Following our first collaboration with Blackwood, The Roy, Rainbow Beach, TRiC was engaged to rename and reposition Surf City Motel as Surf Hotel.

The existing property held a strong place in the local consciousness, but its reputation no longer reflected the ambitions of the project. Rather than abandoning this history, the strategy centred on a subtle but deliberate shift. By removing “City” and replacing “Motel” with “Hotel”, we preserved recognition while creating space for an entirely new chapter.

The brief called for a brand capable of honouring the building’s legacy while supporting its transformation into a contemporary destination for both locals and visitors. TRiC’s scope encompassed naming, design strategy, visual identity, signage and environmental graphics.

RESPONSE

Rather than looking to contemporary hospitality branding, we turned to the visual language of everyday Australia.
Drawing inspiration from vernacular signwriting, roadside communication, letterbox decals and local shopfronts, we referenced Mimmo Cozzolino’s cover for Robin Boyd’s The Australian Ugliness as a starting point. These familiar and often overlooked graphic forms became the foundation for a distinctly Australian identity.

A stretched and deliberately redrawn monospace typeface was developed and applied with a singular hierarchy across the property. Direct, uncomplicated and highly adaptable, the system allows the brand to move seamlessly between architecture, signage and communication.
The identity manifests across external signage, room numbers, merchandise and environmental graphics, anchored by an electric-blue neon pillbox and a large inward-facing marquee sign that greets visitors from the carpark. Designed to evolve over time, the marquee creates an active dialogue between the venue and its guests.

Working alongside interiors by Pasquale Cooke and architecture by Forum Studio, the identity extends beyond graphic design to become part of the experience itself. Throughout the property, references to surfing, local culture and Australian hospitality are embedded with restraint, creating a brand grounded in place rather than nostalgia.

OUTCOME

Surf Hotel successfully repositioned a well-known but ageing motel for a new generation of visitors to the Surf Coast.

The revised name provided continuity while signalling change, allowing the project to retain local recognition while moving beyond the expectations associated with the motel category. The identity established a clear and distinctive presence across every guest touchpoint, from arrival and wayfinding through to merchandise and hospitality.

Today, Surf Hotel operates as more than accommodation. With a destination restaurant led by Jo Barrett, a strong connection to the local surfing community and a renewed sense of local pride, the project has become a contemporary landmark that serves both visitors and locals alike.

The result is a brand that feels inseparable from its setting: confident, familiar and unmistakably Australian.