The Met nightclub opened in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane in 2007. It was created out of a disused cinema, shops and a low roofed basement. The floor of the basement had to be lowered while the three storey building above it continued operation. The “before” picture here shows excavation down the sides of the building foundations that are still carrying the weight of the building above. This aspect of the construction required Osborn Lane staff to exercise careful engineering judgement, to enable the project to proceed while ensuring the safety of the building structure.

Another challenge was maintaining the stability of the old brick retaining wall visible at the right of the “before” photo, when the floor adjacent to it was lowered by a metre. The retaining wall pre-dated the remainder of the building, and had been incorporated into the structure of the existing building forty years ago.