Façade Retention in Glasgow City Centre
The developer City Site Estates commissioned Hunter Demolition to demolish a five storey building in the centre of Glasgow whilst retaining the 150 year-old sandstone block façade.
This was a project which presented us with the dual challenges of a very confined space coupled with the need to minimise disruption to traffic in one of the city’s busy streets.
The building was joined on one side to an apartment block and there were other buildings at the back of the site. The only area available for access and storage of our plant and equipment was a small area of vacant ground adjacent to the site.
On-going liaison with third parties was an important aspect of the work. We carried out structural surveys of adjacent buildings and planned the project so as to impinge as little as possible upon the neighbouring residents and businesses. Working in conjunction with the roads department, we were given permission to take one lane of the street for the façade support – and to provide a pedestrian route. Thus the street was able to remain open to traffic at all times.
We began by soft-stripping the interior and removing and disposing of the asbestos present in the building. Then, long-reach excavators nibbled down the structure without affecting the adjacent buildings.
The façade was retained using a steel bracing system and kentledge blocks cast in-situ round the bases of the steelwork.
And today, in place of a rather tired and run-down building, there stands a luxury apartment block fronted by its very pleasing Victorian sandstone façade.
