The Q1 skyscraper (which stands for Number 1 in Queensland) rises above the surf strip in the town of Surfers Paradise on Australia's Gold Coast. It is the world's tallest residential building, the tallest building in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere and the second tallest freestanding building in the Southern Hemisphere after New Zealand's Sky Tower skyscraper in Auckland. Q1, which opened in November 2005, is 322.5 metres tall. The skyscraper was labelled one of Queensland's icons immediately after opening. For a while, one of the apartments of Q1, bought for 9 million Australian dollars by a Japanese restaurateur, was the most expensive purchase ever made in Queensland. However, Q1 will soon lose its status as the world's tallest residential building - it will become the 414-metre-high Princess Tower skyscraper, which is being built in Dubai (UAE).
The architects working on the skyscraper project were inspired by the shape of the Olympic torch lit in Sydney in 2000. And the skyscraper is named after members of the 1920s Australian Olympic rowing team.
The building is supported by 26 piles (each 2 metres in diameter) driven 40 metres into the ground. The building itself contains 1, 2 and 3-bedroom apartments. There are 2 swimming pools, a sports pool, a gym, a small theatre stage, a dance hall and a spa.
At the 77th and 78th floor level (at 230 metres high) is the Sky Point observation deck, Australia's only observation deck above the beach. It can accommodate 400 people. The breathtaking panorama from the dizzying heights offers views of Brisbane to the north, the Gold Coast hinterland to the west, Byron Bay to the south and the vast Pacific Ocean to the east. The express lift takes 43 seconds to reach the 77th floor. Fireworks are also launched from here on various holidays, such as New Year's Eve. And in the early morning of 28 March 2007, two base-jumpers jumped on cables from the northern part of the skyscraper. Given that base-jumping is illegal in Queensland, the daredevils were fined A$750.
