Construction is fast underway on Australia´s 2nd Wavegarden Cove. Wave park pioneers URBNSURF will once again use our technology to establish another venue, this time in Sydney. The groups´ CEO, Damon Tudor, talks us through this expansion.
What will be the main features of the Sydney facility?
In addition to the surf lagoon, URBNSURF Sydney will offer numerous amenities including a rooftop bar and restaurant, all-day café, a lagoon-side pool, kids’ playground, skate area, beach cabanas and seating areas around the park.
We will also have a retail store, surf gear hire, photo/video facilities and a surf academy for those learning to surf. Another exciting feature at URBNSURF Sydney is a surfing Centre of Excellence in collaboration with the NSW Department of Sport and Surfing NSW which we are really excited about.
In terms of activities, we will be hosting corporate groups and schools, holding many events throughout the year, and be offering yoga, fitness, and other experiences with a focus on wellness.
Our aim is to create an amazing location with a range of experiences available to our guests in addition to surfing.
How many visitors do you expect per year?
We expect over 250,000 visits per year based on the catchment in Sydney.
What has been the key to creating a financially successful surf park? How has Wavegarden´s technology influenced this success?
The key items in the surf park “secret sauce” have been a combination of wave generating technology and a commitment to the customer experience. While we offer surfing, it is about so much more than that – how we welcome customer from all walks of life, ages and experience levels is what makes the URBNSURF brand come to life for our guests.
Naturally, combining this with technology that can offer a great wave, lagoon capacity and frequency offer a surf experience that is askin to being in the ocean…but with guaranteed conditions!
Apart for the financial viability, are there any other reasons why you are motivated to execute the Sydney project?
Sydney Olympic Park is an ideal location for URBNSURF Sydney (just 13 kilometers from the CBD) with its many sporting, entertainment and leisure venues (hosting over 5,500 events each year), large open green spaces, playgrounds and cycleways.
The surf park will be accessible to surfers who live on the coast but also those that hail from the West. Sydney Olympic Park was the heartland of the Olympics in 2000 and we are excited to be part of that history.
There are a lot of great breaks in Sydney, however, as anyone who surfs them knows, they can get quite busy. Being able to provide a surf park experience like we already have in Melbourne is great and we hope to be able to not only host surfers but welcome an entirely new group of customers to experience surfing in a safe and welcoming environment that URBNSURF can provide.
Do you plan to do any social project or collaborate with any NGO?
Definitely, we have already had some great associations with Surfing Victoria, NSW and Australia and look forward to continuing those. We have also worked with SurfAid, Waves of Wellness, Ocean Heroes and Strong Brother Strong Sister to support local indigenous communities. We hope to be able to expand and continue this work once we come out of the pandemic in Australia.
How important is sustainability in this project?
It is very important to us as a company and as surfers. We are a young industry and there is a lot of work to do to improve the impact on the environment from surf parks. We are taking a holistic approach and pursuing ESG development as we grow. I’m really looking forward to being able to contribute to this and is something we take seriously as a business.
For Sydney, we are pursuing recyclable materials in the construction phase, and we will be using renewable energy sources, employing solar and we have been investigating new technologies for a vision of net zero not too far in the future.
In terms of our operation, the importance of the overall cost of ownership is key to be able to run the business in a sustainable manner. Power, water usage, chemicals usage and maintenance requirements are all crucial factors in the business on an ongoing basis and these factors need to be considered in addition to construction of the park.
