Project Overview
One of London’s most prestigious office buildings, Senator House was due to be completely refurbished in early 2017. General Demolition was subcontracted to the strip the 8-storey building back to its shell, ready for the renovation process.
Scope of works
It was specified that all access to the property be from the rear of the building via an internal loading bay. With the proximity to busy roads and the super cycle highway on Upper Thames Street, public safety was a primary concern when manoeuvring vehicles. General Demolition implemented a traffic management system, with three marshals stopping traffic and cyclists whilst vehicles were manoeuvred into the loading area.
It was not expected that Senator House would contain asbestos, however, it was closely monitored throughout the project. Works included soft strip of the eight interior floors and the removal and structural modification of the roof, ready for Category A refurbishment.
All building fabric removed during the strip-out was required to be managed via a small external courtyard. To overcome the limited space, General Demolition installed a hoist and gantry with access at each floor enabling the safe movement of material to ground level. It was also necessary to use static hook loader skips and smaller caged vehicles for waste removal.
To ensure minimal disturbance to surround properties and the public, an acoustic engineer assisted the team in implementing a control-strategy during demolition. The installation of noise monitoring equipment enabled the project to adhere to industry standards.
Despite the access issues and proximity challenges, the project was successfully completed with a 95% recycle rate and no injuries on site.