Main Beach has long delivered on its Gold Coast promise – salty mornings, sunny afternoons, and a village strip that makes everyday life feel like a holiday. But when it comes to its homes, something has shifted.
The newest apartments in this Gold Coast enclave feel less like high-rise fantasy and more like calm, composed coastal living.
Lagoon, on the Gold Coast, is one of a new class of apartments balancing liveable spaces with cutting edge-design. Image: realestate.com.au
The change is being led by a small group of studios, with Plus Architecture (via Plus Studio) leaving one of the clearest imprints through a run of projects: Drift, La Mer, Lagoon and Bella Vie.
Alongside Plus’ Main Beach run, another major practice worth watching is Cottee Parker, with a key project in Main Beach itself – Midwater – and significant work nearby at Elements in Budds Beach, as well as new work on Bronze on Chevron Island.
The "quiet luxury" brief
Plus is a major national firm with projects across the country, but its Gold Coast work is increasingly distinct.
“Main Beach is evolving from a holiday-driven property market into one defined by permanent coastal living,” said Plus Studio principal Chrisney Formosa.
Buyers, she says, are gravitating toward “refinement, longevity and spatial quality rather than visual spectacle… buildings that prioritise proportion, materiality and liveability over overt expression”.
In practical terms, that shows up as calmer façades, deeper terraces, more privacy, more storage, and amenities that feel closer to a private club than a holiday checklist.
Plus says the Main Beach buyer is unusually design-literate – and that shapes everything.
“The Main Beach buyer is typically an owner-occupier or downsizer with highly developed tastes,” Ms Formosa said. “They are often transitioning from large homes into apartments, with a clear desire to not compromise on quality or spatial experience.”
In other words: apartments that behave like houses – just elevated.
Indoor and outdoor living is intended to flow seamlessly from one to the other at Drift. Image: Plus Studio
The new benchmark is a more gallery-like kind of residence: rooms where light, proportion and material quality do the heavy lifting, layouts that feel intuitive and generous alongside the practical comforts that make apartment living work long-term – storage, privacy, and seamless indoor-outdoor flow.
Ms Formosa also points to the "arrival experience" as part of the shift: “these are residences, not hotels – so the transition from street to home feels grounding and deliberate”.
Four projects, one evolving pocket
You can see that "visual quietness" expressed in different ways across Plus’ Main Beach projects.
At La Mer (3580 Main Beach Parade), a boutique and tightly held collection of 23 full-floor residences sits “just 68 steps from the sand” according to developer Odus Property Group, with “exclusive residences spread across its sculpted form”.
The materials story is equally composed, featuring Taj Mahal stone, natural timber flooring and Venetian-style plaster – elevated finishes without loud coastal clichés.
La Mer's curves echo the latest trend towards organic forms. Image: realestate.com.au
A few blocks away, Lagoon (11–23 Cronin Avenue), brings the same liveability-first philosophy to a much larger community – 259 apartments – with an estimated completion of May 2026. It’s positioned for walkable village life near Tedder Avenue, with shared spaces designed for everyday use: places to work from home alongside pool and fitness amenities.
Then there’s Bella Vie (47 Pacific Street), a more boutique building with 78 residences and just four apartments per floor, leaning into wellness-led living. The extensive “Soleil Club” offering reads like a private members’ list: hot and cold plunge pools, sauna, gym, pilates studio, yoga room, library, wine cellar, private dining, and co-working spaces.
The 78 residences of Bella Vie will rise just steps from the beachfront. Image: realestate.com.au
The fourth Plus project is Drift (16–18 Hughes Avenue), a north-facing tower of 50 residences with spacious interiors, premium beachside positioning and wellness amenities designed for everyday ritual. It carries the same design intent seen across all Plus’ Main Beach work – architecture that doesn’t try to outshine the beach, but frames it, softens it with organic shapes, and lets the lifestyle lead.
In Main Beach specifically, Ms Formosa says the real design challenge is balancing openness with privacy:
“Views are highly valued, but privacy is equally important. Successful design lies in carefully calibrating outlook, orientation and separation to achieve both connection and retreat.”
Cottee Parker and the long-game of liveability
At Cottee Parker's work in the are privacy is a main consideration as well, as the decision to embrace high-rise living is one that buyers are often weighing up alongside a standalone home. Finding ways to deliver that feel within a multi-home complex has been a key concern for the studio.
Cottee Parker director Martin Timms says, “apartments need to feel like genuine homes with generous floorplates, considered storage, strong separation between private and social zones, and excellent cross-ventilation,” he says. “It’s less about spectacle and more about refinement and liveability.”
Midwater is set to offer a range of resident entertainment spaces that capitalise on the project's prime location. Image: realestate.com.au
At Midwater (3496 Main Beach Parade), that thinking plays out as a 118-residence address between Main Beach and the Nerang River, with features like a rooftop pool with 360-degree views, valet parking and a wellness centre among the inclusions – amenity designed for daily use, not just holiday mode.
At nearby Elements (21 Oak Avenue), the Budds Beach project puts arrival front and centre where a garden wall and filtered natural light ease you from street to foyer, before the experience shifts upstairs to a rooftop amenity level featuring a horizon-edge pool, dining spaces, gym, sauna and plunge pool.
Indoor/outdoor living is a defining theme here, and Cottee Parker associate Dean Whybird says the intent is connection to the landscape without exposure – with “carefully framed views” and practical details like deep balconies, operable screening and shading that balance openness with protection from coastal conditions.
Amenities will be located on the roof of Elements for residents to enjoy stunning outlooks. Image: realestate.com.au
From there, the focus becomes material and performance over time; “material authenticity and durability are central, particularly in a marine environment,” he says. “Textured stone, refined concrete and warm timber accents are selected not only for their aesthetic quality, but for how they will weather and perform over time.”
Ultimately, the philosophy is architecture that feels calm, resolved and appropriate to its setting. As Mr Whybird puts it, “What differentiates our work in Main Beach is a commitment to timelessness over trend.”
A skyline that’s growing up
Main Beach will always do allure. But what’s happening now feels more specific: apartments designed not as weekend fantasies, but as long-term homes for people who already know what they like – and expect the architecture to meet them there.
Are you interested in learning more about the Gold Coast's new apartments? Check out our dedicated New Homes section.
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