Construction complete

Construction of the Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club is complete and open to the public.

Designed by award winning architects Adriano Pupilli, this beautiful building has been designed to blend comfortably into the natural environment.

The new Club also includes a public amenities block.

The building uses natural materials and sustainably sources timber and is environmentally sympathetic, with water saving fixtures and fittings, some PV power generation, LED lighting on automated controls, drought tolerant planting, green roofs, bike racks and permeable paving.

The Club was officially opened on 11 February 2023.

This project was made possible due to funding from Local, State, Federal Governments and the Surf Life Saving Club.

As part of the redevelopment of Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club, a new café is in the final stages of being built next to the surf club. For more information about this please visit the Your Say page.

Concept designs

Public art

Public art was identified as an opportunity to enhance the design of the and the overall Coast Walk experience.

Local artist Leesa Knights was selected to design a two-dimensional artwork that integrates into concrete seating in the public spaces around the new Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club building.

Leesa is a multi-disciplinary artist who is inspired by the beauty of nature and the afterlife of objects, transforming a host of mediums through various disciplines to renew lost narrative.

Community members were invited to meet with Leesa and hear about the planned artwork at an online Meet the Artist session that took place on Friday, 12 November 2021.


Project history

Construction has commenced on-site. The contractors, Grindleys Interiors Pty Ltd are now on-site. Works are estimated to take 12 months, weather permitting.

At the 15 December 2020 Council meeting, the tender for construction of the Club was awarded to Grindley Interiors Pty Ltd - you can view the minutes here (18.3- RFT2020/174 Construction Services for the Redevelopment of Long Reef Surf Club).

The Development Application for the demolition works and construction of new Surf Life Saving Club with associated public amenities and cafe/community storage buildings (DA2020/0021) was approved by the Sydney North Planning Panel Wednesday 22 April 2020.

View the determination

The Development Application for the demolition works and construction of new Surf Life Saving Club with associated public amenities and cafe/community storage buildings (DA2020/0021) will be determined by the Sydney North Planning Panel on Wednesday 22 April.

A teleconference will be held at 11.30am.

The determination outcome will be provided on this page when available.

View associated documents and meeting notification on the NSW Government Planning Portal.

The Development Application for Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club will be considered by the Sydney North Planning Panel for determination in April.

Agenda details, once available, will be updated on this page.

At its meeting on 25 February 2020 Council noted proposed project funding model and approved the Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club building project to proceed to construction tender phase upon receiving development consent.

View the Council agenda item and minutes

The submission period for DA2020/0021 is now closed.

This project has now progressed to the Development Application stage.

We're exhibiting the Development Application (DA2020/0021) for the demolition of the existing surf club building and public amenities, and construction of a new surf club building, public amenities, café and community storage.

More information is available on our website. If you have any enquiries, please contact Lashta Haidari, Planner on 1300 434 434

Development Application notification period: Saturday 25 January until 15 February 2020.

At its meeting of 26 February 2019, Council was presented with a report on the outcomes of the community engagement for the Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club and community facilities, together with the concept design exhibited during the community engagement.

In addition, Council was presented with an alternative concept which included design changes requested by Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club at the completion of the community engagement, which was approved by Council to proceed to DA.

Council Minutes, Item 10.1, pg. 16

Following an extensive community engagement process, community and stakeholder comments have been reviewed and documented in the Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club Engagement Report – January 2019

Key outcomes

Over 500 people provided comment at a drop in session, meeting or online during the second stage of engagement.

The majority of the feedback was generally supportive of the draft concept and included comments on function and design aspects.

A small number of people expressed dissatisfaction with the proposal overall with comments regarding the design (look) or proposed materials and the risk of attracting antisocial behaviour to the area.

View the full report

A funding boost from the NSW Government for Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club and beach facilities provides a large contribution to delivering this project.

Mayor Michael Regan acknowledged the funding saying “This is fantastic news. Another great example of the NSW Government and Northern Beaches Council partnering to deliver for our community.

“The Long Reef concept plans are currently on public exhibition and attracting lots of positive feedback.

“This funding will help make a big contribution so we can deliver this much needed major upgrade of the surf club and the beach facilities.”

Northern Beaches News item - Surf Club Bonanza for 2019

Following extensive engagement with the local community, the volunteer community working group and architects, we presented the concept plans for Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club and beach facilities.

The concept sought to balance the needs of the club and the community and deliver a modern, functional facility that is sympathetic to the local environment.

A series of drop-in sessions were also held.