Kingspan Kooltherm K10 G2 soffit boards were extensively used in the expansion of the Karrinyup Shopping Centre in Perth, Australia.
One of Australia’s premier retail destinations, the $800m shopping centre with close to 300 shops is now home to all major retail stores, exclusive fashion designer outlets, an expanded area for food and beverages, alfresco dining facilities and a large piazza and main street. The centre also hosts leisure, lifestyle and entertainment facilities, family-friendly community spaces, play areas and relaxing green open areas.
This ambitious undertaking involved an expansion of the existing shopping centre to the eastern and western directions, almost doubling the centre’s size from 60,000m² to 113,300m². The extensive scope of the renovations required significant coordination between all suppliers, contractors and the builder, without compromising the centre’s day-to-day operation.
Each of the two extensions was created for a unique purpose. The eastern extension was designed to provide a state-of-the-art fashion mall and dining terrace, while the western extension includes a fresh food mall with a market feel and an entertainment hub. Both involved major demolition works and a seamless integration with the existing mall, which remained operational throughout.
The setting, just north of Perth’s CBD, is integral to the shopping centre’s feel. Karrinyup is a suburb connecting the city with the adjacent coast, a setting which inspired many of the centre’s distinctive finishes.
Cubic Interiors assisted the design team in creating bespoke feature timber and plasterboard ceilings throughout, reminiscent of rolling sand dunes.
To make these remarkable ceilings curve sinuously along twin axes, Cubic devised innovative framing and substrate design techniques rarely seen on a commercial site. Cubic and the design team also paid homage to the local history through careful installation of the specialist feature ceilings, utilising shiplap installation techniques suggestive of the old timber boats that had lined Perth’s coast in days gone by.
This unmatched historical sensitivity and attention to detail enabled Cubic to assist the design team in delivering a state-of-the-art mall, with finishes unlikely to be repeated on the scale delivered here (stage one was completed in 2018, while stage two was completed in October 2021).
One of Karrinyup Shopping Centre’s defining characteristics is the extensive use of Kingspan Insulation products throughout, specified for their quality, performance and compliance.
Cubic’s Henry Murnane explains which Kingspan products were used and how these aided the shopping centre’s functionality.
”Kingspan was nominated by the builder and architect for this project,” Henry remembers. “The Kingspan Kooltherm K10 G2 25mm and 80mm soffit boards were used in the floors located between the carpark levels (non-conditioned spaces) and the shopping tenancies (conditioned spaces).”
The Cubic team installed the Kingspan Insulation products throughout – for very good reasons, as Henry explains.
“We recognise the advantages when working with the Kooltherm K10 G2 product, including the speed of installation, quality of manufacture, local supply and confidence in compliance, as well as the Group 2 NCC fire classification.”
“It’s a great system which comes with full certification,” Henry confirms. “With our close relationship with the Kingspan team, we were able to have the whole job supplied as and when needed, with no issues or long lead times, even through the uncertainty in the building industry during the Covid period.”
John McClure, marketing manager of Kingspan Insulation Asia–Pacific, is delighted with the results from such a massive project. “In total, we supplied around 60,000m² of K10 G2 and 105km of tape for the soffits. With this amount of tape, you could go around the MCG 223 times, cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge 91 times, or drive from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast. In other words, it was a lot of tape! This was a great project for Kingspan Insulation and a tremendous team effort,” he concludes.
With the very latest in Kingspan Insulation products used on such a vast scale, the new Karrinyup Shopping Centre will clearly set the standard in major construction projects for years to come.
