Spatial Evidence (Hotel Detention), 2023
Hotel detention in Australia is enabled through the designation of Alternative Places of Detention (APODs), where any site designated by the Department of Home Affairs can be repurposed as a detention space, including hotels. In 2019, when hundreds of individuals were medically evacuated from offshore detention, this practice facilitated their continued confinement in inner-city hotels, converted into closed-carceral facilities. Entire hotels, wings of buildings, or clusters of cabins at the back of resorts were transformed into detention centres, where people were held for years with severely limited access to medical care, support services, outdoor spaces, and other facilities.
The Park Hotel in Carlton, Melbourne, operated as a detention centre from 2020 to 2022. This work examines the spatial evidence of hotel detention, analysing the Park Hotel and its position within the broader detention network through architectural drawings.