Eastland Shopping Centre, VIC

At the heart of Ringwood in Melbourne’s east, Eastland Shopping Centre is one of Victoria’s leading retail and lifestyle destinations. Home to more than 60 dining and entertainment venues and major brands including Myer, H&M, Uniqlo and Lego, the centre’s connection to major transport hubs makes it accessible to visitors from across the state.

The $665 million redevelopment, completed in 2016, expanded the centre’s retail space to more than 127,000 square metres and introduced a 171-metre continuous parabolic arch skylight. The result is more than a shopping centre, it is a central lifestyle district where people come to meet, work, eat and play.

Behind the architecture sits an engineered building system of steel wall framing, concealed suspended ceilings and flush finish door jambs, supplied, designed and supported by Studco Building Systems^®.

Expanding an established retail centre by around 50 per cent is a complex undertaking. The Eastland redevelopment was delivered across three distinct development segments on a 24-hour construction site, with large ceiling areas, extensive internal wall framing and a high volume of door openings across retail, dining and public circulation spaces.

The project required a framing and ceiling partner that could deliver consistent product supply, compliant engineered solutions and responsive technical support to keep the program moving around the clock.

Atkar worked closely with Probuild and supplied Studco products for the project, providing the concealed ceiling systems, steel stud wall systems and the EzyJamb® flush finish door jamb system.

Studco also collaborated directly with Probuild, providing extensive engineering design services across all three development segments to meet the demands of the 24-hour site during the build.

This three-way partnership between builder, supplier and manufacturer helped ensure each system was specified correctly, arrived when needed and performed as designed.

Steel Stud & Track Wall Systems

Studco’s Steel Stud & Track wall systems formed the internal wall framing of the redevelopment. Compared with timber, steel stud framing offers dimensional stability, non-combustibility and consistent straightness, which are critical for large-scale commercial fit-outs where the integrity of the walls must stay consistent over the long run.

The steel wall framing installation included:

• Nogging Track – used to provide lateral restraint and fixing points for fixtures and fittings within the wall.
• Bottom Track – the steel stud track that locates and secures studs at floor level.
• Steel Stud – lightweight, roll-formed metal stud profiles that provide the vertical structure for each stud wall.

Together, these components deliver a reliable metal framing solution that provides a straight, stable substrate for plasterboard wall panels. For builders, steel studwork is fast to install, easy to cut and adjust on site, and free from the shrinkage and twisting that can affect other materials. Made in Australia, Studco’s steel framing is backed by four decades of local manufacturing expertise.

Concealed Suspended Ceiling Systems

A shopping centre of this scale requires ceiling systems that perform consistently across vast, open areas. Studco’s concealed suspended ceiling system provided the engineered steel framework, including furring channels and suspension components, to which plasterboard could be fixed to help achieve a clean, continuous ceiling finish across the development, while allowing services to be run efficiently in the ceiling void above.

Key components of the suspended ceiling system included:

• Spring Hangers (MR5) – suspended ceiling hangers that support the ceiling from the structural steel and slab above and help reduce vibration transfer from the structure into the ceiling.
• Suspension Clips (M24) – furring channel clips that connect the steel furring channel to the top cross rails.
• Top Cross Rails (M27) – the primary channels that distribute loads across the ceiling grid.
• Furring Channels (M29) – the Studco furring channel that acts as the ceiling battens to which plasterboard is fixed.

Each spring hanger, rail, clip and furring channel works as part of one engineered system, giving specifiers confidence in performance and installers a straightforward, repeatable assembly process.

EzyJamb® Flush Finish Door Jamb System

With a large number of door openings throughout back-of-house, service and tenancy areas, door framing needed to be both efficient and visually refined. The Studco EzyJamb® flush finish door jamb system integrates the door jamb directly into the steel stud wall, removing the need for architraves and creating a clean, flush finish between wall and door.

EzyJamb® is designed to be installed as the wall is framed, simplifying the sequence on site and reducing the number of trades required at each opening. It is a proven choice for commercial door systems where durability, aesthetics and program efficiency all matter.

Studco BuildIT Engineering Support for a 24-hour Site

Studco’s engineering and technical team provided design support throughout the project, responding to the demands of a site that operated around the clock. Working directly with Probuild, Studco helped resolve framing and ceiling details, providing custom solutions where standard details needed to be adapted.

This service-oriented approach reflects how Studco works on every major project: engineering-led, responsive and focused on shared project outcomes.

Whether you are specifying a complex commercial fit-out or delivering a large retail redevelopment, Studco’s technical team can help you select, engineer and install the right wall framing, ceiling and door jamb systems. Contact the Studco Team to discuss your project requirements.