Grain House, London, WC2E

Our scope of works at our 70x70m Grain House site was sequential. Our works included extensive façade retention, demolition, construction of special finished jumpform core, construction to top floor, slab construction to roof, services isolations and disconnections including temporary service provision, enabling works for a new UKPN substation and salvage of facade stone coping to two zones, piling, temporary works and enabling works.

The primary challenge which was encountered during our Grain House project was that the project was divided into five zones, with five buildings being incorporated into a single building.

We adapted our programme to focus upon the earliest possible transition from demolition to substructure and core, which required localising out of sequence demolition of three of the work zones.

This was essential not only because it provided a critical path for follow on trades, but also because each zone provided stability to the other four zones.

To facilitate our programme, our logistics strategy employed a tower crane to minimise the impact on existing and new structures.

Additionally, our temporary works scheme to support unrestrained columns and masonry and to transfer horizontal loads into stability elements was complex and extensive, and due to the different construction techniques used in the buildings when they were originally constructed, different methods of demolition had to be adopted.

We carried out cut and carve demolition, retaining and delivering minor repairs to several internal and external facades and removing all roof and L4 structures, masonry wall demolition, demolition of specified slabs and retention of other slabs, various slab penetrations and core demolition.

Cut and carve demolition and façade retention were challenging due to the differing construction methods used in the original building. The façade retention on the side of the site which faced Dryden Street was completed in a manner which allowed access to be maintained.

99.07% of all arisings were diverted away from landfill and recycled.