Burly Residences rises, luxury tower to feature hot and cold plunge pools

Burly Residences has moved from excavation to vertical build, and its wellness pitch is getting the same treatment as the view. With all basement levels now complete, the $540 million North Burleigh project has started rising above ground, bringing a 25-level tower of 101 luxury apartments one step closer to the beachfront at 264-268 The Esplanade.

That matters because the cold-plunge angle is no longer being sold as a novelty. Burly’s two full levels of lifestyle amenities are set to include magnesium pools, hot and cold plunge pools, spa and sauna facilities, a fully equipped gymnasium, a private cinema, an executive lounge, and dining and entertaining areas aimed squarely at the ocean outlook. In other words, the plunge pool sits inside a larger recovery-and-luxury package, not as a token amenity tucked beside the mailroom.

Developer DD Living, led by David Devine, has been steadily widening the project since it first came into the market as a smaller scheme. Earlier reporting put Burly at $480 million with 100 apartments across 24 levels, while later coverage lifted it to $540 million, 101 apartments and 25 levels. The change is a good sign of how aggressively premium residential projects on the Gold Coast are being recast around lifestyle rather than floor count alone.

The site itself helps explain the push. At 2,024 square meters with 40 meters of beachfront frontage on the quieter end of North Burleigh, the address gives Burly the kind of setting that turns wellness branding into a sales lever. DD Living broke ground on June 20, 2025, after groundworks and demolition cleared the way, and completion is slated for Q4 2027.

The design team reads like a who’s-who of high-end apartment delivery: Koichi Takada Architects on design, Mim Design on interiors and Gowdie Management Group handling construction. Devine has said completing the basement was one of the most technically complex stages, which tracks in a project where the underground work now gives way to the visible tower above it.

What Burly really shows is how fast cold plunge access has moved from biohacker shorthand to residential status feature. Domain has already flagged luxury projects in Queensland that market cold plunge pools alongside heated pools, saunas and yoga rooms, and Burly’s own residences are being described as a private wellness retreat with a pool, hot and cold plunge baths, infrared sauna, yoga space and gym. The question is no longer whether cold plunges belong in luxury real estate. At Burly, they already do.