Holding the record for the largest concrete shell ever poured, a futuristic shopping centre called Space City once stood along Anzac Avenue at the present-day Kallangur Fair site.
Opening its doors to the public in November 1978, it housed 30 different retail shops within a series of seven intersecting concrete domes, known as ‘Binishells’.
The shopping complex was innovative in its design and construction. Using technology developed by Italian designer Dr Dante Bini in the 1960s, the Binishells were created by pouring a concrete shell over a large inflated balloon, which was lifted and shaped using air pressure to form a characteristic dome shape. The original Binishell constructed in Mount Etna, Italy, had withstood both earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Having the advantage of fast construction times, sometimes as little as one hour, Binishell technology was touted as a potential solution to housing refugees, displaced persons and people affected by natural disasters.
1600 Binishells were built in 23 countries, creating homes, schools, sports facilities, industrial storage units and even discos. However, Space City was the first instance this method had been used to build commercial premises.
The Decline and Legacy of Space City
The operation to pour the Space City domes reportedly took three hours. It captivated the attention of children from surrounding schools, who attended to watch the landmark event with their teachers.
Kallangur locals recall Space City staff dressed in space costumes and shops with automatic opening doors – a novelty for that time. Retailers included Barry and Roberts (supermarket), a butcher, a cake shop, a hair salon and ladies’ fashion stores.
Popular entertainers, Wickety Wak, appeared in promotional advertising for the complex and it featured as a set in the 1986 movie Australian Dream starring Noni Hazlehurst and Graeme Blundell.
Despite attracting customers from far and wide, Space City struggled financially amid stiff competition from other retail centres. After a brief stint operating as a market, Space City closed its doors on 31 December 1985 and was later demolished. All except two of the five Binishells constructed in Australia were demolished due to issues with concrete maintenance.
Today, Binishells are constructed with improved concrete formulations and Kallangur’s Space City is just a memory. However, Dante Bini’s son, Nicoló Bini, has re-launched the Binishell as a sustainable building technology, said to have one-third of the environmental impact over its lifespan, and a new prototype was inflated in Malibu for actor Robert Downey Jr in 2015.
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