The Gold Coast's first high rise - a modest 27m tall building once described as a 10-storied "giant" - has been added to the Queensland heritage list.
The Kinkabool apartment building, constructed in 1959 in the heart of Surfers Paradise, has been labelled a place of significant cultural importance by the Queensland Heritage Council.
Kinkabool is recognised as the first high rise to be built on the Gold Coast and is thought to have sparked the trend for which the tourist region is now famous.
"The Gold Coast skyline of high rises is recognised around the world," Queensland Heritage Council chairman David Eades said.
"Kinkabool set the scene for a new building phenomenon on the coast that's gone higher and higher."
Fifty years after its construction, the apartment building stands almost 300m shorter than the Gold Coast's current tallest building, the Q1, which is 322.5m high.
Kinkabool, once described by the local media as a 10-storied giant, is still in use, with a seventh floor, two-bedroom apartment recently asking $279,000.
At its peak, a week in its penthouse cost about $84 at a time when the average weekly wage was $57.
The apartment building is also the first place in Surfers Paradise to be heritage listed.
Mr Eades said while the heritage listing protects the apartment building from being developed, it can still be renovated or upgraded.
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