Skyline to see rise in innovation

BEYOND 2030, Cairns’ CBD will be transformed into a global tropical oasis reaching for the stars – but still within height restrictions due to the proximity of the city’s international airport.

Singapore-inspired vertical landscaping, pod hotels, and even automated buses to cart high-class tourists from towered apartments to waterfront restaurants, are all possibilities for the city’s future, given developments already planned in the city centre.

Master Builders Queensland’s Far Northern regional manager Sharon Vella believed the completion of major projects such as the Crystalbrook Collection, and Nova City, would allow Cairns to become more of a global city.

“These brand new five and six-star resorts are going to open doors to different types of tourism that we haven’t seen before, because it’s a different level of expectation,” she said.

“If Emirates starts direct flights here, I think we’ll see a different kind of clientele.

“It may not be our traditional Asian and Chinese tourists that we see, hopefully, we’ll see different parts of the world.”

Urban Development Institute of Australia Far Northern president Adam Gowlett said growth of Cairns International Airport would continue to restrict the height of buildings.

Building heights, which are restricted due to air traffic, range on the inlet side of the city from 80m through to 30m at Cairns North.

“In the scheme of global cities, that will always give our city a compact build form,” Mr Gowlett said. “It’s not going to have the huge towers of the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast, or other parts of the world where they continue to grow up and up.”

During the past five years, Cairns Regional Council has planned to introduce more tropical urbanism into the city’s heart, encouraging and using design to reflect the character and lifestyle of the Tropical North.

Mr Gowlett said the amount of vertical landscaping and similar elements in future buildings would be determined by building codes and other safety requirements.

“Look at how much emphasis has been placed on the crowding of buildings at the moment and the level of review,” he said.

“Those sorts of things in Australia hold us to a different level of control over our building designs and what we can actually introduce.”

Crystalbrook Collection chief executive Mark Davie said, within the next 10 years, the predicted population boom would result in greater demand for apartment living.

“I think there will be an opportunity for more highrises in the city area,” he said.

However, he believed height restrictions would be a key factor.