Hirsch & Faigen's new boutique tower to deliver luxury beach houses at Palm Beach

A new era of beachfront living is beckoning in Palm Beach with the shifting sands of architectural design set to add a modern dimension to the quintessential beach houses synonymous with the Gold Coast suburb.

Developer Hirsch & Faigen has secured development approval for Hemingway, a 14-storey, luxury boutique apartment tower comprising 78 residences with frontage to the exclusive beachfront enclave of Jefferson Lane.

The Rothelowman-designed project is a multi-storey reimagining of the area’s humble holiday shacks from the late 1950s and 1960s, keeping their heritage alive in the form of a collection of contemporary beach houses in the sky.

Hemingway draws its inspiration from the best of Palm Beach’s past, reinterpreted by the award-winning architecture firm in a breathtaking, design-led vision of the future.

It is the first development foray on the Gold Coast by Hirsch & Faigen, which has a number of property interests in Queensland and a national portfolio of projects completed over the past decade with a value of more than $1 billion.

The Melbourne-based private company is a partnership between the Hirsch family — also well-known for its petroleum, horse racing and wine interests — and property lawyer/developer Daniel Faigen.

Hirsch & Faigen director Richard Hirsch said the development approval for Hemingway reflected the architectural intelligence, innovation and intuition of its design as well as empathy for its surrounds and the Gold Coast’s beach heritage.

“We’re committed to design, sustainability, usability and creating timeless, contemporary buildings that improve the lives and wellbeing of all that interact with them,” he said.  

“This is a great design-led outcome that in time will prove to be an outstanding result not only for the site but also the whole of Palm Beach, which is one of the Gold Coast’s truly unique beachside treasures.”

Mr Hirsch said Rothelowman’s architectural vision for Hemingway was a reinvention of the suburb’s traditional beach houses, inspired by wrap-around decks and expansive views.

“Hemingway will be a slender residential tower with cut outs that dramatically expand the indoor-outdoor experience and reframe the view-lines through to the ocean to deliver true panoramic views,” he said.

“The design is a perfect fit for its unique location and will help define the future of the once sleepy suburb of Palm Beach, which has become highly sought-after and increasingly more exclusive but lost none of its charm.”

Hirsch & Faigen purchased the 1644sqm corner site at 1267-1273 Gold Coast Highway, which also has frontages to both Seventeenth Avenue and Jefferson Lane, in 2016 for $3.85 million.

It lodged its development application in mid-2019 and despite concerns raised over the project’s height and high-density, Gold Coast council officers deemed the tower was “not considered to offend the local skyline” and was “appropriately serviced by infrastructure”.

An assessment of Hemingway’s design by the council’s Office of Architecture and Heritage provided a further tick of approval, citing that it would “reinforce the local identity” and “contribute to the emerging character of the area”.

“The development as a whole provides a distinct architectural appearance through its form which incorporate subtle design elements of the 1950s and 1960s beach house, articulated floorplate, sculptured columns and projections which are combined with high-quality material selections which include applied finishes in varied sandstone shades,” its analysis stated.

Hemingway — named after The Old Man and the Sea author, Ernest Hemingway — will bring unparalleled apartment living with the feel of an open beach house to the uber desirable location of Palm Beach.

The development is primely positioned just metres from the sand and warm waters of the Pacific Ocean and only a short stroll to all the area’s popular restaurants, coffee shops and other amenities.

The project will comprise a variety of one, two, three and four-bedroom apartments across the 14-storeys. 

Enhancing the new era of urban sophistication in Palm Beach, the development will also house its own ground-level café and expansive communal open space with a swimming pool, pool lounge, barbeque area and outdoor cinema.

Hirsch & Faigen have other property development interests in Southeast Queensland, both on the Sunshine and Gold Coast coasts.

For more details visit https://www.hfproperty.com.au/