News

Starting from the top and working down, demolition is underway at the vacated Hotel Jen building on Roma Street, to make way for the new underground Cross River Rail station.

This is the first of three buildings to be demolished on the site, in what is one of Brisbane’s largest ever demolition projects, and nothing says progress on a construction site like an 85-metre crane at work on a building completely encased in over 1000 tonnes of scaffolding.

The 18-floor Hotel Jen, known then as the Brisbane Travelodge, was originally opened in August 1986 as part of what was considered at the time to be a ‘state of the art’ Brisbane Transit Centre.

Working their way down floor by floor, crews have begun to dismantle Hotel Jen, with demolition of the adjacent East and West Towers expected to start in March.

Demolition of the three buildings will enable construction of one of Cross River Rail’s four new underground stations, to create Brisbane’s new underground.

This top-down demolition is just another step towards a turn-up-and-go transport network for the whole of South East Queensland.

Construction of the new underground Roma Street station will also create jobs for Queenslanders, and breathe new life into what is one of the city’s most under-utilised precincts.

This demolition work isn’t the only activity at the Roma Street site either, with preliminary works also underway on the tunnelling site where crews will excavate an access shaft.

An Acoustic Shed will be erected to provide cover to the work site and help reduce noise and dust impacts on the local community.