Project Overview
General Demolition were appointed as the main contractor to undertake strip out and demolition works to an existing five storey vacant office building with a basement. The building neighbours consisted of the iconic Bob Bob Ricard restaurant, PPL Music Licensing company as well as Golden Squares Radio broadcasting stations consisting of Kiss FM, Magic, Absolute and Virgin.
The soft strip included all internal finishes and non-load bearing walls, ceilings, M&E and floor coverings.
Temporary road closure was approved by Westminster City Council for Bridle Lane to facilitate deliveries and removal of waste. A full monarflexed scaffolding was installed to enclose the building. Due to the narrow pavements on Beak Street and return façade along Bridle lane a specially designed scaffold was installed that cantilevered out at first floor. Hoarding was then installed to secure the works incorporating a loading gantry that bridged across the width of Bridle Lane.
Method of demolition
Demolition started at the top floor level of the building locating a 1.5 tonne excavator on to the top floor with a mobile crane from Bridle Lane. The building was then systematically dismantled down to ground floor level. All arising’s were removed via a drop chute internally allowing the debris to fall to the ground floor level. The debris was then loaded on to lorries located on Bridle lane via a conveyor belt. During demolition, a temporary road closure was implemented at the agreed hours of between 8am-3pm Monday to Friday with 3 full time traffic marshals present at all times to facilitate the movement of site vehicles as well as the neighbour’s vehicle utilising the same road for deliveries etc.
General Demolition worked closely with the client’s team to facilitate the Party Wall agreements. Extensive temporary works were required to support the basement and the highway.
Regular communications and relationships with the neighbours were maintained to Ensure that their day to day business operations were maintained with minimal disruption. Newsletters were distributed every fortnight informing the neighbours of the forth coming works.
Enabling the future – new developments
Our work on 40 Beak Street paved the way for a multi award-winning development designed by Stiff + Trevillion with Lee Simmons, and what was a redundant space falling into disrepair has been transformed into an artistic architectural showcase in the streets of Soho, now home to a restaurant on the ground floor and office space above.