5 Chancery Lane
Situated in the heart of legal London, 5 Chancery Lane dates back to 1910. A £200m redevelopment - targeting an 86% retention and reuse rate - will transform the building and provide close to 106,000sqft of sustainable Grade A office space.
General Demolition undertook extensive demolition and enabling works for the initial phase of the redevelopment which is set to culminate in Q1 2026.
Professional Team:
LS Estates / G&T
Programme duration:
47 weeks
Value:
Over £750k
In summary
Photographic condition, building services, asbestos and CCTV drainage surveys
BREEAM audit
Isolations and installation of temporary supplies
Bespoke perimeter and oversail scaffold
Notifiable asbestos works
Large MEP package of works
Internal strip out
Demolition of roof and glass atrium
Cut and carve demolition
Extensive propping
Removal of 4 lifts
Decommissioning and removal of plant
Opening up works and intrusive structural investigations
Extensive interface with City of London
Pre-assessed as BREEAM Excellent
In line with this impressive rating, General Demolition's strong focus on responsible demolition and its commitment to driving the circular economy made us an ideal fit.
Reuse was central to our programme - from the retention of Portland stone at roof level and the salvage of parts of the façade, to the windows at first floor which were carefully removed and stored for later reintegration.
The project
Cut and carve demolition
Propping of central atrium
Removal of 4 lift cars and bays
Hot works at roof and sub basement levels
Works at 5 Chancery Lane spanned all six storeys above ground, at roof level, as well as in the basement and two sub-basements.
Logistics, permits and licences all needed to be approved and obtained through the City of London Council before boots hit the ground.
Once on site, the pace didn't let up. A sizeable perimeter scaffold was erected and wrapped in acoustic monarflex to mitigate against noise and debris before strip out works commenced.
Internal demolition followed with...
Demolition of the roof and the glass atrium was left until last. It took the team 13 weeks and involved both mechanical and hand work. The sizeable plant at roof level was removed via a lifting beam and internal goods hoist installed in the atrium.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHT
Oversailing high profile neighbours
With a party wall agreement secured, scaffolding was built up from the ground on two elevations and bridged across Sir Alan Sugar’s multi-tenanted building with the use of scaffold beams. Boarding out and wrapping the scaffold with sound inhibiting monoflex helped to reduce noise and dust. The oversail structure, was erected as the final step in the construction process. Once the roof of the adjacent party wall area was demolished, the oversail structure was promptly dismantled.
Cut and carve demolition
While mechanical demolition - including the use of Brokks and conveyors - was employed on site, much of our programme was executed by hand. At times intricate and painstaking, the GD team was committed to ….
Thinking outside the box
The installation of a hoist within the building necessitated a strategic approach. The 9-tonne hoist car was disembled off-site and was subsequently transported in sections. It was then carefully lowered into the sub-basement from the lower ground floor, utilising a beam hoist scaffold that was purposefully constructed for this particular structure. Once in the sub-basement, the hoist car was meticulously reassembled to ensure its proper functioning within the designated area.
