Sculptor in his Element at Budds
HE helped design the Batmobile, now an award-winning Gold Coast sculptor wants to help transform his first home into a giant tower overlooking Budds Beach.
Sculptor Liam Hardy, whose work has appeared in blockbuster films The Hobbit, Chronicles of Narnia and Fool’s Gold, has teamed with developer Mcnab to create a 22-storey tower on a 1012sq m site on the corner of Birt and Oak avenues.
Mr Hardy and his wife Yvette bought the site in 2008 and plan to live in the tower, to be called Elements, once it is completed in 2024.
Work on the project, submitted to the Gold Coast City Council for approval, is expected to begin in late-2022.
Mr Hardy said he wanted to leave a legacy in his future home by creating a sculpture for its foyer and helping to design the tower’s facade with architect Cottee Parker.
“It is important to us to create a beautiful space that complements the Budds Beach community,” he said.
Mr Hardy’s previous projects have included attractions at Tokyo Disney, director Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit film trilogy, rides at
Village Roadshow’s Gold Coast theme parks and Suncorp Stadium tribute statues of rugby league legends Mal Meninga and Arthur Beetson.
Elements will replace a zany 20-storey tower Mr Hardy pitched for the site in December 2018.
A Hobbit-esque “skygarden” with huge art pieces, a giant pair of hands set in concrete, a feature pool and d views of the Coast’s beaches and hinterland were the centrepieces of the asymmetric high-rise, which has been scrapped in favour of a less unusual design.
According to documents filed with the council, the tower will feature 70 two, three and four-bedroom units
as well as two penthouses.
The units will be priced from $800,000 to $1.5m, while the penthouses will cost more than $3m.
“After a soft launch online we have been inundated with demand from locals looking to upgrade their lifestyle,” Mcnab senior development manager Mark Spedding said.
“More than 150 inquiries have been received within a two-week period. Of those inquiries, a dozen requested to amalgamate floor plans to convert two two-bedroom apartments into a four-bedroom residence, effectively reducing the number of units available to the market.”
Elements is the second major development to be pitched for Budds Beach the past six months.
February, the giant four-tower La Pelago development was approved. It will be built by the Gurner Group.