Hang on to city’s colourful history
A LEAD architect for the Commonwealth Games athletes village is urging the Gold Coast to “hang on” to aspects of its colourful past as it evolves into a global city.
Archipelago director Peter Edwards showcased progress at the village’s Parklands site yesterday, highlighting an “exuberant” colour scheme of yellows, pinks, purples, blues and greens.
“That building form celebrates colour and it does so unashamedly,” he said.
“The rapturous use of colour is intentional not just to make an energetic event-driven environment and place for a bunch of international visitors to gather next year.
“It is an attempt to make a commentary around what might be happening on the Gold Coast at the moment where we’re beige-washing away out of a kind of reluctance to embrace the culture of the Gold Coast leading to this point.
“All of that Miami-inspired celebratory tourism-oriented colour that framed the Gold Coast we all know and love is something we need to hang onto and celebrate.
“We would like to think the work we’ve done captures an important moment in history for the Gold Coast of a new and confident city, a grown up city, a city that defines itself as a place of sun, skyscrapers, abundant natural beauty, global events and glamorous hedonism.”
Mr Edwards, whose firm has been jointly involved in the project with two other firms, ARM and Arkhefield, said the Gold Coast was becoming increasingly confident and powerful as a global city.
“The opportunity for the Gold Coast moving forward is to embrace a lot of the recent history that has been thought of nationally as a cultural cringe – and run with it.”
The centrepiece of the village’s 18 buildings with 1252 residential apartments is a bright yellow sculpture celebrating the city’s formative history simply dubbed The Heart.
The 29-hectare site, which next April will be home for 6500 Games athletes and officials, is part of a Health and Knowledge precinct next to city hospitals and Griffith University that Mr Edwards said would be a major economic engine for the city.
After the Games, developer Grocon will initially rent the apartments residentially before a staged sell-off so as not to flood the property market.