$300 Million Gold Coast Surf Park Village Plan Proposed
For the past year, the Gold Coast development sector has been riding a perfect wave, and now a new $300 million project wants to join it.
A development application has been lodged with the Gold Coast City Council, unveiling the precise details of the Palm Springs-inspired integrated surf village that were presented six months ago for Parkwood—a neighbourhood within a 15-minute drive to the city's legendary surfing beaches.
The proposal's centrepiece is a 4ha dual-zone surfing lagoon that can produce "up to a 26-second end-to-end barrelling six-foot wave ride."
The development, which will sit alongside the 56ha The Club at Parkwood Village's current 18-hole golf course, is counting on a pent-up surge of visitor activity hitting the Gold Coast in the coming years after borders reopen.
According to submitted documents, the mixed-use project aims to deliver “a landmark destination for surfers, tourists and the local community to play, dine, relax, shop, work and recreate”.
The bold vision necessitates council approval for an increase in "the scale and intensity" of an existing approval for the Napper Road site, which would increase the site's allowable density from 135 to 222 apartments spread across eight new buildings plus 12 four-bedroom surf villas overlooking the wave pool.
To allow for the planned development, a raise in the existing building height limit from five storeys (18.2m) to eight storeys (28.5m) is also being asked.
The masterplan includes a five-story "Surf HQ" with wave pool reception, administration, patron induction/orientation space, change rooms, board storage, lockers, food and beverage options, and co-working areas, as well as a five-story "Surf HQ" with wave pool reception, administration, patron induction/orientation space, change rooms, board storage, lockers, food and beverage options, and co-working areas. It features a landscaped rooftop and architectural curves that resemble "waves crashing into a headland."
“a simple rhythm of moving curves that start as flat, moving into a ripple, then into a wave formation ... increasing in intensity as it gets closer to the headland (Surf HQ),” says BDA Architecture.
A brewhouse, events centre, retail and commercial tenancies, 120-place childcare centre, sports, health and medical hub (including Gold Coast Titans training facilities), redesigned golf course and clubhouse, as well as relocated pro shop and wedding chapel, are all part of the integrated surf park resort.
The surf, recreation, and entertainment area will be developed by Parkwood Village, led by founder Luke Altschwager, in collaboration with WhiteWorld, a wave pool manufacturer based in Canada.
Its massive wave lagoon will include cutting-edge Endless Wave technology with "unlimited programmed flexibility" to suit to all skill levels, with a capacity of 75 people surfing per hour on numerous 12-second barrelling waves.
The Parkwood project is one of several vying for the title of Queensland's first surf park, including a World Surf League-backed Surf Ranch proposed by Brisbane developer Consolidated Properties Group in Coolum on the Sunshine Coast.