Sydney Trains engaged Rapid to deliver a full strip-out and internal re-build on this Heritage-listed flagship shopfront on Eddy Avenue. Our work for the Cootamundra Girls’ Home group involved remediation, stabilisation and repair works to facilitate Heritage adaptive re-use. The existing floor had been termite affected but heritage guidelines required it to be preserved. The timber was very fragile due to its age and condition. Areas that could not be salvaged were matched for species, colour, size, and grain. The structural steel supporting the concrete arched roof was severely deteriorated and steel had to be propped and samples taken for metallurgical testing in order to determine the composition for weld repair design. The existing sub-floor was filled to the top of the joists with 38 tonnes of basalt ballast. Due to the location on Pitt St, removal access was very difficult so the ballast was removed via conveyor belts onto waiting trucks. The existing walls were heavily affected by moisture seepage and salt damage and much of the original plaster was failing, but with specialist consultant/subcontractor advice and assistance we were able to stabilise the existing substrate in many locations and apply new hard-set plaster to the new and existing substrate to provide a fantastic finish. The site had been dedicated to Dept. Aboriginal Affairs by NSW Trains and supported by Sydney Trains for use by former attendees of the Cootamundra Girls’ Home as a meeting place for their organisation. It was important to provide modern accessible facilities in a site that had not been originally designed for this purpose. The adaptations required much collaboration between all parties with the involvement of OEH, Sydney Trains Heritage Specialist and Heritage Architects engaged by Sydney Trains.