About the project
The grand shopping arcade in the Queen Victoria Building refurbishment (QVB) is a Sydney icon, originally built in 1890. The building has become a major city attraction since its reopening as a retail centre in 1984.
Conrad Gargett’s new interior refurbishment updates the facility while respecting the original 1890s features and also retaining the unique heritage qualities of the building.
The two new banks of escalators in the existing north and south gallery voids of the Queen Victoria Building Refurbishment have been carefully located to one side. This is in order to preserve the vistas along the arcade to the central dome space, the symbolic heart of the QVB. The escalators are clad in backlit, translucent glass to help de-materialise their immense forms and reflect the shop fronts, creating the perception of openness.
The new, historically interpretive colour scheme and carpet design, with frameless glazed shop fronts and signage, revitalises the shopping experience and unique architectural interiors. Together with the major refurbishment work, the building’s safety systems, lighting, lift car re-fit outs, balustrade and disabled access provisions are upgraded to meet current building requirements.
