Melbourne consortium wins Gold Coast cultural precinct competition with whimsical design

IT'S been branded a `bucket list' attraction. A winding tower, bungee jump and waterslide - part of the winning Gold Coast cultural precinct design.

A FOURTEEN storey "twisting new arts museum" with an exterior walkway, a top floor viewing lounge and a bungee jump will be the "heart" of the city's $300 million cultural precinct with council revealing details of the winning design.

ARM Architecture, out of Melbourne, will tonight be announced as the winner of the lucrative City of Gold Coast's cultural precinct design competition.

The staged precinct, tipped to start at the end of next year if approved by councillors, will cost $300 million to build.

IN PICTURES: The winning design for the Gold Coast cultural precinct

Winning concept for Gold Coast Cultural precinct by ARM Architectur

Along with the winding tower, the cellular precinct will feature:

• A new-look Arts Centre Gold Coast, which will double in size and feature a 1200-seat state-of-the-art theatre, a renovation to the existing theatre and a "black box theatre" which will open out to the river

• A "water play" park featuring a slide

• A sports area including a basketball court

• A spiral helix green bridge connecting the site to Chevron Island

• Outdoor art galleries and a massive amphitheatre

• Floating gardens

• Fine dining restaurants

• Supertrees - new structural shade elements that act like parasols

Winning concept for Gold Coast Cultural precinct by ARM Architectur

The tower will include a an interactive kids floor, a great hall, two floors for a library, a level devoted to new media and photography, two storage levels, a space donating to memories of the Gold Coast, a cafe and observation deck and a roof lounge.

There will be more green space on the new site, with parking moved underground and additional parking proposed for Karloo Street, Chevron Island, near the entrance to the proposed green bridge.

The architects behind the winning design said the Gold Coast offered a "rare" platform to deliver such a flamboyant concept on the 17ha site.

Howard Raggatt, founding director ARM Architecture out of Melbourne, said the Gold Coast was a "rare post modern city"."You could not have something like this in Melbourne this is the only place something like this could happen," he said.

"The bungee jump proves that art is not just about high brow, this offers something for the whole family. There is an activity for everyone."

Mayor Tom Tate said the concept would appeal to the whole family.

"I imagine families - mum and dad, two kids, the mother-in-law and the cheeky cousin - will come to the cultural precinct for the day," said Cr Tate.

"The daughter will go swimming and use the slide, the son will shoot some hoops, the parents will visit the touring Piscasso show while the mother-in-law will go for coffee at one of the waterfront cafes.

"The cheeky cousin - he will be the one who uses the bungee jump."

He said the concept would come alive at night and would feature an outdoor amphitheatre like the one he visited during his cultural precinct trade mission to Las Vegas and Miami last year.

Winning concept for Gold Coast Cultural precinct by ARM Architecture

$300m set aside for revival of city precinct

SIX privately built towers facing a man-made canal and overlooking the on Bundall Road will be part of the $300 million funding plan to see the city's cultural precinct come to life before the Commonwealth Games.

A public-private partnership will be part of the plan to fund the masterplan for the precinct, with stage one - the 14 storey glass tower - promised before the 2018 event.

Council is in negotiations with commercial facilities including educational facilities, major media outlets and like-minded businesses to move into the site to help fund the publicly-owned precinct.

Mayor Tom Tate said the masterplan would be delivered in stages, with the last stage being the demolition of the council "beehive".

It is understood the beehive will be knocked down to make way for the supertrees after the games, with the games company Goldoc set to move into the building to house its growing staff numbers.

Winning concept for Gold Coast Cultural precinct by ARM Architectur

The towers will be a mix of residential and commercial, while a proposed carpark on Chevron Island could also help fund it.

Cr Tate said there were would be funding contributions from council, and he would ask the Federal Government to help commit to building this "national icon".

"We want to have a public-private partnership and we want to encourage philanthropic donations," he said

"There will be a mixed retail development and the likes of international restaurant owner Wolfgang Puck as well as Luis Vuitton could be among those who move in," he said.

"It will take in elements from around the world and in my mind will have a feel like the Cosmopolitan in Vegas."

He said it made "moral sense to have a place to bring the soul of the city to life".

He said this would be a "bucket list attraction" giving travellers from around the world a reason to visit the city.

A model of the Gold Coast cultural precinct design.

ARM beat 75 consortiums to the first stage and two during the last stage, including local company DBI, which formed a consortium with VOGT and world-renowned architects CRAB Studio, and Nikken Sekkei from Japan.

Design competition head juror Gordon Holden praised all three entries but said the ARM entry best fit the brief for the 17ha site.

The demand for a Gold Coast cultural precinct reached fever pitch in the lead up to the last city council election, but plans have been in place since 1968.