Gold Coast wins at the Queensland Architecture Awards

The Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre (GCSLC) picked up three prizes at the Australian Institute of Architects Queensland Architecture Awards on Friday, including the prestigious G.H.M. Addison Award for Interior Architecture.

According to the jury although this facility was designed for the Commonwealth Games it “also had to consider its legacy beyond the Games.”

In their citation the jury noted that “The interiors therefore are very flexible and agile, able to adjust to its various uses – community and major events.”

Commending the main entry to the building as “a three-storey void defined by a sparkling ribbon of tiles which is a continuation of the gold external building veil,” the jury found that this space described as a public street, “is filled with natural daylight and allows cross-ventilation reinforcing its connection to the outside and the sub-tropical climate.”

“The void is fluid and sculptural in form and the ceiling is punctuated by golden skylights which add to the fun and informality of the ‘street’,” said the jury who noted that “The project withstood its greatest test during the Games and will continue to be an elite sporting facility of world class quality.”

The other prizes given to the GCSLC were the Colorbond Award for Steel Architecture and a State Commendation in Public Architecture.

Already in its short life the GCSLC has hosted the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the TOTAL Badminton World Federation (BWF) Sudiman Cup which was the first time in the Cup’s 25-year history that it has been held in a country outside of Asia or Europe.