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The Challenges
The iconic Red Hill skate arena a was burnt by fire in 2002 and had stood derelict for almost 17 years before it was added to the council’s heritage register in 2016.
In 2017 a $10 million redevelopment by Five Star Cinemas was set to restore the auditorium to one of its previous incarnations as a cinema.
One of the key restoration challenges was to retain the different layers of history to the building and keeping some of the original graffiti intact. Existing steel trusses were to be retained, along with the street facade and arches.
There was a challenge in redeveloping a site that was abandoned for a long time – both structurally and from a design perspective.
The Solution
The developers spent more than six months stabilising the roof, restoring key features of the old skate arena and revealed the century-old archway.
Many of the timbers from the original structure that survived the fire now make up the ceiling for the lower area of the building. Some original graffiti was kept intact, with additional movie-themed graffiti added to the inside of the building to reflect its latest incarnation.
The weatherboard walls along each side of the auditorium above the brickwork were replaced with Bondor’s non-combustible and fire-rated walling product FlameGuard®, a product with a Mineral Wool core, encased in BlueScope® Colorbond® Steel.
FlameGuard® was selected as a key product supplier due to the rigid requirements set out by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission and Australian Building Codes Board regulations.
FlameGuard® was well suited for the project with long spanning application required for the building, as well as for its high thermal performance and energy efficiency. The panel also offers Non-Combustibility, FRL or FM Approval for insurance purposes and has been tested and certified to achieve up to a 3 Hour Fire Rating.
