About Me
Q1
322,5 metres/1,058 feet
78 stories
Completed: 2005
19th tallest building in the world
Tallest all-residential building in the world
and tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere
- designed by Atelier SDG and developed by the Sunland Group Ltd.;
- the name Q1 refers to Queensland number One;
- building costs were approximately US$ 307 million;
- tallest building in Gold Coast City, Queensland, Australia, and Southern Hemisphere.
- the design of the building was inspired on the Sydney 2000 Olympic torch, and Sydney's Opera House;
- according to the information to be found in the observatory area of Q1
the spire on top is 97,7m/320f tall. It starts at the 75th floor level,
is made up of 12 sections and weighs 87.2 tonnes. It extends 47m/154f above the glass fin.
- from level 60-69, the building has a ten-story skygarden,
which holds a 30m/98f high rainforest.
- the building has a two-story observatory on the 77th and 78th floor.
Costs to go up are 16,50 Australian Dollars (us$ 12,-/euro 9,60);
the observatory gives you 360-degree views from the 235m/771f level.
It's the world's only beach-side observation deck.
- the tower has 10 elevators; the fastest being the one that reaches the observatory,
traveling at 9 metres per second; 540 metres per minute;
including getting in and getting out of the elevator,
the trip up or down only takes about 45 seconds!
- if you don't want to go by elevator, but want to take the steps up,
then you have to go up 1,380 steps, from ground level to the observatory.
- the buildings has 527 apartments, consisting of one Penthouse, 12 sub-penthouses,
213 one-bedroom, 184 two-bedroom, and 117 three-bedroom apartments.
The penthouse was apparently sold for $ 24 million to Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe.
It became the most expensive apartment in Queensland.
- the building is supported by 22 piles (each two metres in diameter)
that go 45m/148f into the ground and rest on solid rock;
- the building can sway to a maximum of 600mm;Some more facts:
- construction required 32,640 man weeks to complete -
1,632,000 hours on site, plus 800,000 hours in off-site works;
- the building consists of:
18,926 panes of glass, totaling 14,350 square metres and weighing 311 tonnes;
9,500 tonnes of reinforcing steel plus 250 tonnes of steel in the roof spire and crown;
34,500 square metres of curtain wall glazing
1,000 kilometres of electrical cable were used throughout the building
- 2,500 people contributed to the on-site construction of Q1.
