Territory Urban Grey, a tough prefinished cladding panel from Cemintel® met both functional and design objectives during the refurbishment of an iconic Brisbane pub.

The Royal George Hotel in Brisbane has a long and eventful history going all the way back to 1850. Located in the heart of the thriving nightlife precinct, Fortitude Valley, RG’s is a beehive of activity from Thursday to Sunday. Looking to provide a makeover to his pub, RG’s owner, Les Pullos sought robust yet stylish products that could stand up to the constant crowds testing the resilience of the décor.

Les wanted a cladding solution that would look good, be durable, and could also be cleaned easily. To meet this brief, builder Dave Ziebell from Quality Innovative Constructions recommended Cemintel’s Territory Urban Grey cladding panels.

Featuring a raw concrete look, Urban Grey has a contemporary vibe that makes it very popular in residential and commercial design. The prefinished cladding panels are protected with NichiGuard coating, which has an anti-staining, self-cleaning function.

According to Dave, they were looking for products that could withstand exposure to spills and people bumping into walls; they wanted strong products that didn’t need painting. Territory Urban Grey cladding sheets were installed on the front of the bar and then back-angled so that spilled drinks would be less likely to hit.

Time was another challenge for all stakeholders in the refurbishment project. The pub couldn’t be shut down while the renovation was on; therefore the schedule had to be worked around the operational hours, which meant the installation window was really limited. However, Cemintel’s innovative fixing system played an important role in the completion of the project within the short timeframe.

Since the renovation was being carried out in an old building, the project had to maintain heritage-listed features while integrating modern aspects expected by the hotel’s millennial-generation clientele. The whole front façade and the upper floor of the building were completely refurbished while small elements inside such as the colonial archways were maintained, repainted and integrated with the refurbishment.

Dave explains that Urban Grey has definitely boosted the design by complementing all the elements around it. Meanwhile, Les is confident the pub’s new look is working wonders to draw in more customers.