Outhouse to penthouse
The Gold Coast property boom has seen a new dawn for design, with everything from public bathrooms to art galleries competing for prestigious architecture awards. Vote for your favourite online
IT’S the brand new Gold Coast building that boasts multimillion-dollar views, cutting-edge design, world-class materials and is now nominated for a prestigious architecture award. And it’s a public toilet block. If ever there was proof that the Gold Coast is all grown up, this is it.
No longer are we simply the city that launched a thousand project homes and high-rise towers, now we’re a hub of sophisticated design that embraces the Coast’s character, glitz and glamour.
Entries for the Australian Institute of Architects Gold Coast Regional Awards prove that the only thing outstripping the city’s booming property prices is our sense of style.
From public bathrooms to beachfront homes, from ecohomes in the Hinterland to suburban surprises, from schools to galleries, social housing to luxury towers, this is like flipping houses but on a citywide scale.
Gold Coast Regional Awards juror and Raunik Design Group associate architect Jane Boyd says she’s never been so proud of her hometown.
Growing up on the Gold Coast, Jane started her architecture career working on the then-cutting edge Robina Town Centre as well as the masterplan for the Casuarina and Salt developments in northern NSW.
After touring all the Gold Coast entries into the architecture awards, she says it’s given her inspiration both as a designer and a resident.
While she’s at pains to refrain from picking favourites, she says one entry in particular was a great example of how the city has matured.
The Currumbin Waters
House is the renovation of a single-storey 1989 AV Jennings display home which sits on a shared title with three other house models along a common driveway.
“All of the jurors all came away from that house talking about it,” she says.
“It’s so interesting to see that something of the everyday – a project home from the 1980s – can still produce a beautiful project using creative thinking.
“It’s fantastic that they didn’t knock it down. The fact is that, incredible as it may seem, one day the AV Jennings of the 1980s could be our heritage-listed houses of the future. Look at the respect we give our old fibro beach houses now. When they were built they were a cheap holiday home that were never built to last, now they’re a relic of the past and of our history.
“This renovation also shows the accessibility of architecture. People think architects are only for the elite, but this project shows it’s accessible at all levels.
“Often it’s a lot cheaper than knocking down a house and starting again, and it keeps the character alive.”
Of course, there are still plenty of aspirational entries, from beachside single-family homes to mid-rise towers with five-star views and amenities.
But there’s also an entry for a new social housing site in Southport, the Anne Street Garden Villas.
The series of seven social housing dwellings was designed by Anna O’gorman Architects and is one of 20 social housing demonstration projects that will influence the government’s future social housing designs.
After conducting workshops with current tenants, the project prioritised communal open space above on-site carparking to create a safe place for residents to connect, with the intention of alleviating loneliness and creating community.
“Social housing is a huge issue right now and this is such a great example of how we can create something beautiful, on a budget, and that actually has the potential to improve the whole community,” she said.
“There have been countless studies done into the effect of architecture on society … it can improve health, mood and productivity.
“It would be wonderful to see that change where social housing is no longer the un
wanted element in a suburb but a beautiful addition that’s welcomed.
“What we so often find is that when you add great design to a neighbourhood, it really inspires other residents to improve their own home design as well, which lifts the whole area.
“In a way, that’s what’s happening on the Gold Coast. The diversity of design – from bathrooms to art galleries – means that everyone is being influenced.
“It’s bringing a sense of pride, which makes people care more about their city.”
Jane says the city has reached a new level of maturity and has finally found its own style.
She says for decades, design and style was imposed from other cities and applied to the Coast with mixed results.
“I think we struggled with our identity for a long time. But now we’re at a place where we feel confident and know our strengths and are working on our weaknesses.
“For a long time we had styles and fashions that were introduced from elsewhere and they really had nothing to do with how we live or who we are.
They were just brought in and applied without any real thought. It was a paint-by-numbers style.
“Now I think our design is much more about reflecting our lives here – open air, coastal living, acknowledgment of our environment. There’s a lot more personality – we’ve used a bit of this and a bit of that and made it our own.”
Jane says even that most controversial design form – the high-rise – has improved.
And she says developers are partly to thank.
“I think we really have seen developers step up their offering … and a lot of that is because there is an appetite from buyers,” she says.
“People don’t want a rectangular box with a view, they want something special and they’re willing to pay for it.
“A great example is the Norfolk building in Burleigh Heads, which is an entry in the awards as well. You look at it and it’s a work of art.
“Absolutely, that is the architect’s vision, but it’s the developer who commissioned it and was willing to go beyond the usual specs.
“Of course, we don’t see that all the time. I think high-rise buildings in particular need to make sure that if they’re taking all that height and increased density, they need to give back at street level.
“It’s not just about giving amenities for buyers, but providing amenities for the community as well.
“And, of course, to remember that not every offering needs to be luxury multimillion-dollar apartments.
“We need to be careful we’re not increasing the divide.”
Which is why in this new city of style, it’s so important that we’re not only creating elegant homes on the beachfront … but designer public bathrooms beside them.