From surf parks to cemeteries: Australia’s most eye-catching developments in 2022
2022 proved to be an eventful year for officials giving the green light to some landmark projects across the country.
From grand scale multimillion dollar waterparks to eye-watering sky-high pools atop transformative towers or groundbreaking cemeteries, 2022 saw some incredible Australian developments get the tick of approval.
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Promising to bring with them jobs, tourists and architectural notoriety, here are a handful of head turners throughout the year.
Surf’s up in Port Douglas
The first of its kind in Queensland, NorthBreak Port Douglas plans to have a 4.5 star 164-room hotel and resort with a 1.5ha wave pool, 4ha freshwater swimming lagoon, aqua park and 90 self-contained villas. Picture: Supplied
One thing has been missing from Port Douglas until now — a gnarly set for surfers to “hang ten”. But now surf will be up in the resort town thanks to the approval in May of a $317 million artificial wave park.
The NorthBreak Port Douglas development includes plans for a 4.5 star 164-room hotel and resort, along with a 1.5ha wave pool, a 4ha freshwater swimming lagoon, aqua park and 90 self-contained villas and surf cabins. Every eight to 12 seconds the pool will generate waves of up to 2.1m with rides lasting up to 26 seconds.
Douglas Shire mayor Michael Kerr said when said the project would bring a world-class surfing experience to a region.
“With no recognised surf breaks in the tropics, council believes this once-in-a-generation development will attract a wave of new visitors and keep our beautiful pocket of the world at the forefront of travellers’ minds,” he said.
NorthBreak Port Douglas is the latest in a sea of proposed surf parks across Australia with only one currently open for business; URBNSURF Melbourne.
Perth’s prestige members-only storage units
A members only exclusive self storage facility, this Perth development will have fully customised units. Picture: Supplied
Now storage facilities are getting the designer treatment, but only for a select few. Australia’s first ultra-luxurious self-storage site Sotto (which translates to underground in Italian) will offer exclusive customers glam sheds plus a backstage pass to members club amenities such as a gym, sports bar and wine lounge.
The brainchild of commercial property developer Anthony Bryson, founder of Built Form Capital,
Sotto will house 36 self-storage spaces. Each footprint can be customised to suit the owner’s needs from bespoke wine storage to housing expensive car collections.
To be located across two amalgamated industrial lots in Osborne Park in Perth, Sotto is expected to take more than a year to complete but only high-net wealth individuals in Bryson’s extended network will be invited to front up an average of $380,000 to belong.
Gold Coast welcomes St. Regis hotel
Australia’s first St. Regis hotel is about to land on the Gold Coast after Marriott inked a deal with developer Tim Gurner.
The glamorous GC will soon get Australia’s first St. Regis hotel after international chain Marriott International signed a deal in November with property development’s golden boy Tim Gurner.
The unique development will feature the luxury $1.7b La Pelago resort-style project in one of its three towers in the prestigious Budds Beach precinct.
Expected to open in 2025, the hotel will comprise about 185 rooms and suites, iconic views, a bespoke butler service and even a signature St. Regis Bloody Mary cocktail inspired by the Gold Coast – a tradition of pairing drinks with their location going back to the chain’s glitzy heyday in the 1940s.
This multibillion-dollar announcement comes just one month after Marriott International struck a separate deal to open a Ritz-Carlton, also on the Gold Coast, by 2026.
Locals dead set against cemetery approval
A vast land parcel in Sydney’s west is earmarked to become the largest cemetery in Sydney to be approved in 70 years. Picture: Supplied
Despite residents in Wallacia opposing the redevelopment of local farming land, a 73ha parcel got the go ahead to become Sydney’s largest cemetery in 70 years.
Located on Greendale Rd in Wallacia along the Nepean River, the huge block received DA in September after barriers preventing council approval were removed. A recent State Government review revealed there is a chronic shortage of cemetery space in the state.
Concept designs for the vast $105 million non-denominational facility show it will be able to accommodate 775,000 burial plots, six mausoleum buildings, a chapel, hall, gatehouse, cafe and administration buildings.
Although an expressions of interest campaign ended on November 24, the property is still listed for sale with Ray White Commercial.
Sydney’s Silicon Valley takes shape
Australia’s own Silicon Valley is taking shape in the Harbour City and Central Place Sydney is joining the tech precinct. Picture: Supplied
An emerging tech precinct was further boosted in October after DA approval from the City of Sydney for Central Place Sydney, a joint venture between Frasers Property Australia and Dexus. The $3 billion project next to Central Station will form a significant part of the transformation of the Harbour City’s southern CBD skyline.
The council’s green light followed a NSW Government announcement outlining its vision for the Central Precinct where tech powerhouse Atlassian has already begun work on its $1.8 billion Australian Headquarters. Central Place Sydney will add more than 130,000sq m of commercial floor space to the surrounding area in the form of two 35 and 37-level towers and an 8-storey low-rise buildings.
Melbourne hotel set to make a splash
An artist’s impression of the tower which would boast Australia’s largest rooftop pool, at 28-38 Pearl River Rd in Docklands., Picture: Supplied
In September a DA was lodged for a sky-high hotel with a super-sized rooftop pool in Melbourne’s Docklands just across the road from Docklands Studio. The extraordinary pool will measure 35m by 8m and is tipped to become the largest top floor pool in the country when it opens in 2026.
So long that it will be built between two hotel towers 15 storeys high, the head turning amenity is part of a $340 million project by Capital Alliance designed by architectural firm SJB. As well as boasting a 200-room TFE hotel and a 105-room Adina hotel, the unique development will house an event space and a 1000-person conference centre on a skybridge between the towers.
A waratah trophy tower for state capital
With a facade that honours the state’s official flora, a new tower in North Sydney will take the form of a waratah. Picture: Suppied
North Sydney is in the midst of a multibillion-dollar makeover as new office buildings and residential developments take flight in the previously waning satellite CBD.
The unusual office block, which will undoubtedly make its mark on the local landscape, was given approval in April. Developed by Thirdi and designed by architects Woods Bagot, the red tower resembling the state’s official flower, the waratah, is a $650m to be coined Warada on Walker.
Once finished in 2025, the building will have 22 levels of office space and be topped by a 1000sq m rooftop garden with city views capturing Sydney’s most famous icons.
