About
Aalto is a luxury Gold Coast high-rise development that seeks to explore the humble notions of openness and connectedness with a tower structure that touches the earth lightly. The 38-storey beachfront tower on Garfield Terrace in Surfer’s Paradise features a unique podium design, which, combined with the building’s soft-edged form and lush landscaping, creates a sense of openness and acts as an extension of the natural dune landscape and surrounding public green spaces. The full and half-floor residences have been designed to provide intimate, enveloping spaces, while embracing the luxury of space.
Design Strategy
The distinctive building form is derived from subtropical design principles with expansive outdoor living spaces and a robust material palette. Its absolute beachfront setting is amplified by sequencing the arrival towards the elevated position of the pool deck, drawing movement through a series of stepping landscapes. The tower’s expansive podium is purposefully unenclosed, providing light-filled outdoor spaces which invite the natural elements of the coast deep within the building footprint. Articulated edges are expressed rhythmically, corners are softened and long sweeping forms take cues from longshore drift – the inimitable movement of drifting sands and water along the coastline.
Sustainability
A mix of passive design strategies help provide comfortable communal areas year-round, with sufficient shade and access to natural daylight. The edges of the northern façade pull back from the boundary, creating large recesses in the overall building form and offering increased daylight amenity to the pool deck. Careful consideration of the prevailing winds and the use of stepping habitable landscapes on the pool deck level provides comfort and amenity to the occupants of these common spaces.
Materials
The use of raw and natural material plays a key role in the design ensuring the building withstands the elements and ties in with the natural landscape. The inherent strength and resilience of raw materials is celebrated through the use of concrete, stone, and timber finishes, complimented by feature accents of metal balustrades and pool fencing. Materiality for the interiors is refined in the application of blonde timber tones, contrasted against rich natural stone with metal accents.
