Glass venue drives neighbours to breaking point
The opening of a new transportable glass event space in Roma St Parkland is drawing the ire of one local.
The Glo House, Brisbane’s first fully transparent and completely transportable glasshouse event space, held its opening night Roma Street last week drawing a backlash from nearby residents.
The 400-guest building was scheduled to stay in Roma Street Parkland for the next three months.
A concerned local who did not want to be named said most of those living near the parklands were elderly, and were not consulted prior to the site’s construction.
“On the first night, the noise impact at my mother’s apartment was enough to have her close all the doors during the spring heatwave. Even still, it was noticeable,” they said.
“Yes, they shut it down around 9pm, but I’d bet that is just a warm up for when the real parties get going.”
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The local said that post-event, loud partygoers continued onto the boulevard while looking for a ride home. She says this caused an unwelcome disruption to many of the residents.
“The Ubers and taxis had little options to pull-up and caused some dubious driving choices.”
Designed for events, The Glo House was established by Glo Events founders Anthony Ikin and Pete Cunningham.
Ikin and Cunningham said they had no intention of ignoring residents’ concerns and had been doing their best to respond to all complaints.
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The Glo Events founders said that their opening night was uniquely celebratory but not indicative of future events.
The two confirmed that for the launch event, an environmental acoustics consultancy was engaged to conduct a precinct-wide 3D noise modelling project.
“This included the placement of sound loggers around various parts of Roma St Parkland, especially the residential buildings, to capture sound impacts from Glo House. All data captured was compliant with the Environment Protection Act, and we will use this data to inform future event planning,” Ikin and Cunningham said.
The two said they do not wish to agitate local residents and were doing their best to respond to complaints and make adjustments where they could.
“What we love about the Glo House is that we’re not permanently taking over parkland spaces but rotating between Brisbane’s beautiful green spaces,” Ikin and Cunningham said.
The two said upcoming events included a Mater Hospital staff awards night, a Melbourne Cup charity lunch for the Children’s Hospital Foundation and other community fundraising events.
“We host a combination of private and community fundraisers and events and employ local suppliers to give back to Brisbane as much as possible,” they said.
They could not confirm when or where the Glo House would move to next as they await sign off for the 2026 season, but said they would continue operating in Roma Street Parkland through to December.
“We’re focused on returning the beautiful parkland space to pre-Glo House beauty with the help of horticulturalists at the end of the year,” they said.
