A major remedial and structural overhaul of a heritage Newcastle hotel: concrete cancer treatment, corroded beams replaced with new structural steel, 200 internal walls demolished, 200 new openings cut, full room refurbishment and a 200 sqm roof slab.
The Great Northern Hotel is a landmark heritage building in Newcastle. Corroded steel beams and spalling concrete needed repair, and the floors were being reconfigured with new walls and openings.
METCON delivered the remedial and structural overhaul: stripping the building back, replacing failed steel, treating concrete cancer, reconfiguring the floors with new openings and walls, and pouring a new concrete slab across the top of the building.
Original steel beams had corroded badly. As steel rusts it expands, and that expansion had cracked and pushed off the concrete and plaster around it, leaving reinforcement exposed in ceilings and slab edges.
This is concrete cancer at building scale. Left alone it keeps getting worse with every wet season, reducing the strength of the structure and creating a safety risk from falling concrete.
The building was stripped back so the full extent of the corrosion and cracking could be seen, rather than guessed. The project is documented under construction certificates CC2025/01047 and CC2025/00932.
Every structural step started with temporary propping, so floors and ceilings were supported before any beam or load-bearing wall was disturbed.
Structure first, finishes last. Each stage made the next one safe.
Rooms stripped back to the original structure so every defect could be seen, and floors propped before any steel or load-bearing masonry was disturbed.
Corroded original beams removed and new structural steel installed and bedded into the existing masonry.
Spalled concrete broken out back to sound material, reinforcement exposed and treated, and sections reinstated.
200 internal walls demolished, 200 new openings formed, and redundant doorways infilled in matching brickwork.
A 200 sqm concrete slab poured across the top of the building and the rooms refurbished.
Photos from the works: corroded steel, concrete cancer, new structural steel and new openings.
Failed steel replaced, concrete cancer treated, the floors reconfigured with 200 new openings and 200 walls removed, a new roof slab in place and the rooms refurbished.
The same approach applies to any older building with corroded steel, spalling concrete or a layout that needs to change: find the cause, prop, replace, repair, then finish.
Each part of this job is a service we deliver on residential, strata and commercial buildings.
Spalled concrete removed, steel treated, sections rebuilt.
Learn moreCorroded beams replaced with engineered steel.
Learn moreAn older building restored from structure to finish.
Learn moreRemedial works on hotels and commercial buildings.
Learn moreWalls removed and openings cut safely.
Learn moreOpenings infilled and brickwork made good.
Learn moreSend us photos, a report or the address. Free inspection and an itemised quote.
