Especially when, at age 88, he’s pouring his heart into a project that could well save our own.

The heart of Surfers Paradise has been flatlining for years, but Desmond, the business hall of fame entrant whose local projects alone include Palazzo Versace, Surfers Paradise Marriott and Soul, has a design that could finally get the city pumping.

Call it South Bank by the Sea.

Far from retiring, Des has instead drawn upon his pure disgust at the state of Surfers as his inspiration to create the city where his grandchildren will grow up.

It’s a grand plan, yet stunningly simple too: close the Esplanade to traffic between Elkhorn Avenue and Laycock Street, create a new landscaped public promenade along this pedestrian-friendly path and, at its heart, create our very own South Bank pool, complete with waterfront restaurants and new surf life saving club facilities.

“Cars can’t swim,” says Des. “Yet why do we have our most priceless piece of beachfront property paved for traffic?

“One would think that a place called Surfers Paradise would allow the city to touch the beach, but instead we’re separated by a road.

“And for what? It’s no use as a thoroughfare, it only creates noise pollution and ruins the public space.

“Imagine turning that area into beautiful parkland to walk along the foreshore, and with a magical pool at the centre of it.

“It’s somewhere that families could gather, it’s a safe place for children to swim and splash while looking out at the waves and the surfers. Parents can dine at the restaurants, wander along the landscaped paths with sculptures, terraces and fountains.

“It’s truly creating a heart for our city.”

Des says he can’t believe how far Surfers has fallen.

He says it was the city centre that first drew him and late wife Pauline, who were together for 75 years, to the Gold Coast.

Now, he says, a recent visit made him “want to vomit”.

“Mind you, that would have fit right in. It’s just disgusting how degraded and derelict it has become in there,” he says.

“It’s little wonder no locals go to Surfers anymore, there’s nothing for them.

“That’s why I want to create a place that will bring back the families and the residents.

“The nightclubs can still be there, but even that we can do better.

“I’d love to see a Vegas-style atmosphere with bright lights and music and a real street vibe, somewhere you go just to see it, not even to necessarily go into the nightclubs.”

Des admits that his designs are in their infancy, but says it’s always worth throwing out ideas to see if it will stick.

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He says buildings and businesses like Peppers Soul and the Paradise Centre should throw their support behind the plan as it will boost their own bottom line.

“Under this plan, they both become absolute beachfront amenities. It would bring real life to the Paradise Centre with the pool centred outside its doors.”

While Des expects pushback from certain quarters, he says that’s never stopped him before.

Indeed, it’s precisely how the original South Bank came into being.

Des says one of the biggest criticisms of his original plans for the redevelopment of the old Expo 88 site on the Brisbane River was the centrepiece pool itself.

“The bigwigs said they loved my plans, but not the pool. So I just walked out of the meeting.

“Eventually they called me back and said we could do the pool but we need to reduce its size, which is what we see today.

“And as almost anyone will tell you, it’s the pool that made South Bank into such a tourism drawcard.

‘If tourists like a pool beside the river, imagine how they will love a pool beside the sea.”

And if anyone can pull off this grand plan, it’s definitely Des.

After all, this is the man who travelled with his new bride by ship to the USA in the late ’50s, only to immediately land a job at 20th Century Fox studios.

“We arrived in LA and Pauline wanted to stay in Hollywood and of course we ended up at the Shady Side motel, but we didn’t care.

“That same night, Pauline saw an ad in the paper for an architect needed at 20th Century Fox. I decided to go along and see what that was about and I ended up in a meeting with eight guys in Brooks Brothers suits … because they just loved my accent.

“They asked me to say something ‘in Australian’ so I said ‘Coolangatta, Moorabbin, Woolloomooloo’ … which I told them meant ‘pleased to meet you’.

“Anyway, it turned out that they wanted the size of their land estate calculated, so I went over to the University of Southern California, met some men from the architecture department – James Pulliam and Irving Shapiro – and we managed to get the job.

“We found out that the studio owned 240 acres of land in Beverly Hills that they never knew they had. So we then offered our services to come up with a masterplan for that land … and that’s how Century City and the Avenue of the Stars came to be.”

Just about every anecdote from Des’s mouth involves yet another iconic landmark and famous figure, especially when it comes to the Gold Coast.

“Not long after we came to the Coast in the early ’80s, I got a call one day, after I’d given a talk on the Gold Coast, from the man who owned Andalucia Park on The Spit.

“He wanted me to ‘smarten up’ his property. I said ‘Do you know what’s happening up the street? Keith Williams is spending $250 million on a park. Down the highway, John Longhurst is spending $350 million on a theme park’.”

“I said ‘do you know what’s a fantastic idea? A six-star hotel, let me talk to council’. So I put on my show, said I only want three storeys. They said no worries.

“I’d known Christopher (Skase) since we were just boys. So when I got approval for the site at The Spit I knew Christopher wanted to get into tourism, so I gave him a call and said ‘how would you like to get in on the best site in Australia?’

“In the meantime I went to Sheraton and said ‘am I kidding myself? Is this a six-star site?’ They said ‘on one condition, that we’re the managers’.

“So when Christopher came, he, Pauline and I are walking along the beach where the hotel’s going to be. And he said ‘so what are you going to do Des?’’ and I said ‘I don’t know yet, I’d just like it to appear as you come along.’

“And Pauline said, ‘Like a mirage …’

So we’re flying back to LA with Christopher one day and he’s got this satchel. He takes out one of the copies of the prospectus and says, ‘Pauline, this is copy No.1, you’d better have this’. Pauline says ‘Why me?’’ and he says ‘Look at the name of my company: Mirage. You named it’.”

While Des is still known as the man who founded DBI Design, he sold his interest years ago, although he still closely follows the firm’s work.

However, he admits he’s not always a fan. Particularly when it comes to the design of their own piece of paradise in the shape of Jewel.

“It’s a stunning building from a distance,” he says.

“But from street-level it’s very foreboding. Buildings are meant to welcome you in, not make you feel uncomfortable.

“It’s a beautiful addition to the skyline, but not so welcoming to the neighbours.

“That’s what we need to address in Surfers, making it a city that feels inviting from the ground up.

“If we can build the heart on the foreshore, I think we can spread the love beyond.”

Surely it’s time for the city of the Gold Coast to have its own heart of gold.