Dismantling and Demolition in an Edinburgh Hospital
Laing O’Rourke appointed Hunter Demolition to carry out partial dismantling of ward blocks and demolition of other ward and accommodation blocks as part of their redevelopment of redundant hospital buildings.
The partial dismantling was carried out in four-storey ward blocks which our client wished to re-develop into luxury apartments.
We removed and disposed of the asbestos present in the buildings and stripped out internal fixtures and fittings. We then dismantled part of the internal structure so that new stairways could be installed and we removed concrete balconies which the client did not wish to be part of the buildings’ new design.
The remaining buildings in the contract were to be demolished and comprised two nurses’ accommodation blocks, an administration building, a six-storey pre-cast concrete laboratory building and a five storey ward block. This five-storey ward block comprised three wings around a courtyard so we were working in a very confined space and with limited manoeuvrability.
We also had to make sure that our work did not impinge upon the occupants of neighbouring buildings. We planned our traffic movements to fit the needs of an adjacent school and, as other parts of the hospital were still in use, it was imperative that we kept dust, noise and ground vibrations to a minimum.
