“With the Versatile Outdoor Space fully operational after Gold Coast 2018 Games, we can be ready to start on the next key pieces of the precinct
– Gold Coast mayor, Tom Tate

The city council of Australia’s Gold Coast has fast-tracked the building a AU$60.5m (US$48.1m, €40.3m) art gallery to add to its fast-developing cultural precinct.

Designed by ARM Architecture, the colourful, twisting gallery is expected to be built to the south of the city’s Evandale Lake. The building will feature up to five floors of exhibits and halls and a rooftop bar.

According to the Gold Coast Bulletin, work is likely to start either late next year or early 2019, and be complete by late 2020.

The project has been in the pipeline for some time, but it has taken a major step forward following the successful completion of a new ampitheatre in the precinct.

The 5,000-capacity Versatile Outdoor Space (VOS), described by the council as “fit for a feast and a full symphony orchestra”, will open properly later this year and is scheduled to host events for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games (GC2018) next year.

The structure is covered by a 600sq m (6,400sq ft) shade cover, topped by greenery that people can walk across. This is supported by ten 10 tonne support beams welded on site and rooted 15m (49.2ft) into the ground.

The VOS also has a 3.5 tonne door that can close to transform the venue into an indoor hall for 200 people.

“It will be a truly versatile venue where we can welcome home our Olympians, celebrate a wedding or present anything from a chamber orchestra to an international headline act,” said Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate.

“With the VOS fully operational after Gold Coast 2018, we can be ready to start on the next key pieces of the precinct – a green bridge linking the site to [residential hub] Chevron Island and our new City Art Gallery.

“This will be a vital project which will deliver important cultural infrastructure and jobs after GC2018.”

The demolition of Gold Coast's former council administration centre has returned 1.4 hectares of the precinct for civic and community use. ARM, alongside German landscape architect Topotek1, theatre planners Shuler Shook, sustainability and engineering consultants Arup, and exhibition designers Cunningham Martyn Design have masterplanned the precinct that will take its place.

When finished in the mid 2020s, the site will include a theatre and a sub-tropical outdoor garden Artscape.

Previously commenting on the plans for the area, Tate said the “fun” scheme “understands and celebrates” the Gold Coast’s vibrant and egalitarian culture.

He said: “With everything from skateboarding to opera and contemporary art to fashion, it has the potential to put out the welcome mat to everyone to come and enjoy the precinct and engage with the full diversity of Gold Coast creativity.”