A Rock Solid Storage Upgrade That Never Shut the Doors — looking back on the picton hopkins trade centre Glow-Up

Turning 170+ Years of Plaster Know-How into a Storage System Built for the Future

One of Victoria's oldest family-owned businesses, Picton Hopkins has been manufacturing and designing plaster products since 1857. After more than 60 years as a trusted stockist of CSR Gyprock plasterboard and accessories, the business caught the attention of Gyprock itself, which identified it as a valuable acquisition.

Rolling Picton Hopkins into the CSR stable brought a new level of category expertise into the fold and set the stage for a full site refurbishment as the business relaunched under a new name: Gyprock Solutions.

As a long-standing supply partner to the CSR Group, Emrack was brought in during the earliest stages of due diligence to assess the existing storage systems and critically, their compliance with CSR's stringent OH&S standards.

Our Custom-Engineered Storage Audit and Refit

Emrack was engaged to evaluate the site's existing racking and shelving against CSR's compliance requirements — a brief that quickly grew to cover Cantilever Racking, Pallet Racking, Gondola Shelving and more.

Working alongside all stakeholders and consultants, Emrack developed floor plans and schematics to optimise the layout around the client's product range and site footprint. The scope grew to include a fresh design for the retail area and expanded storage across the trade and warehouse zones — and Emrack was awarded the full refit for both, including custom colour configurations to match the new interior design.

Seamless Delivery with Minimal Downtime

With the new Cantilever Racking system in place, custom side-bolted bases delivered the largest possible drive-through aisle space, speeding up loading and order turnaround while shrinking the rack's overall footprint. A new A-Frame Racking system boosted storage for plaster cornices and angled plasterers' trim, adding capacity without adding clutter.

Over three weeks, CSR's construction team handled the dismantling while Emrack's team installed the new system exactly to plan — delivering a site with greater storage and handling capacity, stronger safety and compliance, and a trade and retail division built to run at full speed.

Outcomes & Benefits

Full Compliance:
Racking systems evaluated and refitted to meet CSR's stringent OH&S and Australian Standard requirements.

Increased Sheet Storage Capacity:
Custom side-bolted Cantilever Racking maximised drive-through aisle space and shrank the overall footprint.

Zero Trading Disruption:
Staged installation across business hours kept Gyprock Solutions open and serving customers throughout.

Custom Retail Fit-Out:
Gyprock-specific Gondola Shelving and colour-matched merchandising completed in under 5 days.

Built for Compliance, Designed for Growth

This project showcases Emrack's ability to deliver on complex, multi-stakeholder fit-outs where compliance, brand and business continuity all have to land at once. From due-diligence audit through to final install, every element was tailored to set Gyprock Solutions up for its next chapter with the right infrastructure in place.

For more information on how Emrack can enhance your storage solutions, please contact us.