If you’re going to call a building ‘Surfer’, you probably want some actual surfers involved.
That’s exactly what Bastion Group has done with its new Gold Coast development, bringing two of Australia’s most exciting young surfers, Dane Henry and Milla Coco Brown, into the fold to help shape the project and make sure it actually feels connected to the culture it’s borrowing its name from.
Henry is the reigning WSL World Junior Champion, while Brown has been stacking results on the Pro Junior circuit and built a reputation as one of the most exciting young aerial surfers coming through.
The pair have been working with Bastion’s design and development teams, contributing to the lifestyle spaces and giving their input on what living close to the ocean actually looks like when surfing dictates a pretty significant chunk of your life.
“Surfing dictates our schedules, how we live – we want to create something that fits around that coastal lifestyle, and feels like home,” Brown says.
Designed by Joe Snell of Studio Snell, Surfer takes architectural cues from a stack of surfboards and will rise around 30 storeys above Vista Street, just moments from the beach. Inside will be 100 two- and three-bedroom residences, alongside an EMF-designed gym, resort-style swimming pool, residents’ retreat with private plunge pools, lounge and spa, plus a ground-floor retail and dining precinct.
We actually got our first taste of the whole thing earlier this month, when Bastion took over the Mondrian penthouse to officially launch Surfer with Dane, Milla and a pretty healthy contingent of the Gold Coast surf community in attendance.
You can check out everything that went down at the launch here, but between the location, the crew and some fairly ridiculous views over the coastline, it was a pretty fitting way to introduce a building attempting to bottle up a little of the Gold Coast’s surf culture.
And with two people who spend a hell of a lot more time around the ocean than most of us helping shape it, Surfer has at least got the right people in the room.
Head here for more on Surfer.
