Design of Brisbane Paralympic centre of excellence features bizarre spiral staircase

Brisbane’s Paralympic Centre of Excellence has raised eyebrows after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk unveiled a design that prominently features a spiral staircase which will be inaccessible to wheelchair users.

The centre, to be built ahead of the city’s hosting of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, will include a wheelchair and prosthetics workshop as well as dedicated testing facilities and international standard sport venues.

But the centre at the University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus bizarrely includes a steep, spiral staircase.

However the University say the centre and the adjoining Health and Recreation Centre, where the staircase is, will both be fully accessible.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the centre on Wednesday, and said support was an example of the legacy hosting the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games is all about. 

‘A Paralympic Centre of excellence inspires more parathletes to compete in 2032,’ the Premier said.

‘But it also provides invaluable research and other opportunities for our community.

‘This is what legacy is all about: the long-lasting benefits to our community long after the Closing Ceremonies,’ she said in a statement.

The Queensland Government will provide $44 million towards the Centre of Excellence.

The centre, which is being build ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, will include a wheelchair and prosthetics workshop as well as dedicated testing facilities and international standard sport venues

The University will provide $44 million. It is asking the Federal Government for matching support.

Photos of the designs show the three-storey building with a large staircase spiralling through.

After sharing the news on her Facebook page, Ms Palaszczuk was inundated with comments confused about the prominent staircase.  

‘I love the idea of the facility, I am just blown away by the most physically prominent design feature being a staircase. Seems a little tone deaf and disrespectful given the target audience, but that’s just my opinion, I don’t speak for the entire disabled community,’ said one person.

‘Why does one of the buildings have a spiral staircase?’ said another.

Many others suggested the investment would be better spent on the homelessness crisis. 

Stirling Hinchliffe, Minister for Tourism, Innovation and Sport and Minister Assisting he Premier on Olympics and Paralympics Sport and Engagement said: ‘This will be the first Centre of Excellence of its kind anywhere in the world combining leading research, sport technology, rehabilitation, and a potential runway to a Paralympics medal podium in 2032.

‘It will set a new international benchmark for inclusion and elite Paralympic sport as the first of many tangible legacies Queenslanders have told us they want from the 2032 Games.

‘With facilities at the University of Queensland already geared to 20 out of 23 current Paralympic sports, the St Lucia campus is a ready-made location for an enduring legacy.’