Tottenham Court Road

A former grand retail and office building dating back to end of the 19th Century needed to be demolished to redevelop the site into a prestigious retail and office complex.

Being located in a 'conservation area, the buildings extensive ornate' terracotta façade was to be retained. A scheme was developed, where the façade was supported using a combination of part external temporary steel support and by installing the new steel frame within the structure, with modifications to support the structure in the temporary case during demolition.

This ensured the busy thoroughfare of Tottenham Court Road was not restricted by a heavy  structural support and a substantial part of the new foundations and structural steel work were installed concurrently with the demolition works.

The building was soft stripped and sections of the ground floor removed. Demolition was carried out on a top-down floor-by-floor basis using mini excavators fitted with impact hammers, bucket attachments supported by hand held pneumatic tools.

Logistical co-ordination was paramount and due consideration was made to the neighbouring properties to minimise disruption to their business activities and to pedestrians using the busy Tottenham Court Road shopping area.

Testimonial:

"It is an amazing achievement to have completed such a complicated enabling works and demolition phase on programme. Their efforts set this project off to a good start."

Paul Middleton, Project Manager, Costain