Queen Street, Wolverhampton
A four-storey former retail store with AIB ceiling tiles on every floor including an extensive basement from the 1970s and in poor condition. Hammerjack controlled a tight programme switching between floors to allow for environmental cleaning, guano removal, licenced and non-licenced asbestos removal and full internal strip out was carried out cohesively and on time and budget. Lack of space for any skips presented additional challenges
Bretby Business Park, Burton-on-Trent
Hammerjack was appointed as Principle Contractor to split off and demolish a heavily reinforced concrete framed building. The planning was complex due to the steel trusses at high level which had been tightened together and under tension. The factory adjoined to it was live 24 hours a day and the building had to be split without interruption to their processes. Dust suppression was a key consideration on this project as all concrete had to be crushed and deposited within 5m of the remaining buildings in the middle of a hot, dry summer.
GE Healthcare, Amersham, Bucks
Hammerjack were contracted in to remove asbestos shuttering to the underside of a 1960s heavily reinforced concrete building after previous attempts to remove by hand became exhausted. Works were carried out in a full enclosure under licenced conditions to prepare it for demolition by the previously awarded, demolition contractor. Controlling the dust and debris and asbestos fibres was the major challenge.
Harborne Royalty Cinema-Birmingham
Hammerjack were contracted in to make safe the iconic Harborne Cinema in Birmingham after a devastating fire. The Cinema was built in the 1930 in the heyday of British film and was Protected as a grade 1 listed building. The fire had ravaged the building making it unsafe to enter however that was not the primary concern. The cinema had been renovated in the 1960s and Asbestos Insulation Board had been installed under the seating of the auditorium. The fire had broken down the material and spread it across the building and now the whole cinema was not only structurally unsound but contaminated.
Hammerjack were called in as they had the expertise to both develop a safe method of removing the overhead twisted stell elements but also to remediate the asbestos. The work was carried out under fully licenced conditions which had been notified to the HSE. Specialist water canons had to be adapted by our engineering team for them to deliver an asbestos suppressing surfactant rather then the normal water they are designed to atomise into a mist as amphibole fibres are repellent of water and need to absorb the chemicals in the surfactant to reduce the spread of carcinogenic and deadly airborne fibres.
The area was on a busy Birmingham high street, 3m from the local pub on one side, directly above a busy hand carwash on the other with a busy shopper’s carpark in the run up to busy Christmas period at the rear. Hammerjack completed the contract in six weeks both keeping our own employees safe as well as the general public. The building was cleaned to such a high standard we were able to instruct a UKAS accredited, independent analyst to carry out a four-stage clearance and issue a certificate of re-occupation. The building was now safe for the conservation team to enter without the risk of collapse or exposure to asbestos to assess the damage and evaluate what could be saved for posterity.
Former Night Club, Bristol Street-Birmingham City Centre
Hammerjack were contracted to demolish the Former nightclub which was directly on to the public pathway and had a shared wall with the neighbouring office building as well as a shared carpark with a nationwide Car hire Company and a shared rear service road with the neighbouring food restaurant which could not be blocked as was also the only fire escape for customers. We took on the project as Principal Contractor and had to liaise with all the effected parties affected and obtain the Party Wall agreements. We also had to apply for permits to build the scaffolding and hoarding on the pavement and make arrangements to divert pedestrian traffic without forcing people on to the busy A38 coming out of the city centre.
Once all permits and arrangements were in place, we had to take the roof off by hand to reduce the level to below the adjoining property, we had to take the front down by hand to the 1st floor level and we had to split the building by hand from the adjacent property cutting the steel work with oxy-propane torches and splitting the slab with hand breakers. The footprint in which we worked in was extremely limited and removing the demolition waste was problematic due to the narrow shared rear service road. Hidden basement was also discovered which we had to instruct a structural engineer to survey and advise how we were to mitigate the collapse of the next door building and subsequent engineering solutions had to be applied. After the works were completed, we levelled the whole area and retarmacked to match the existing carpark for its ne end use.
Large Warehouse Unit - Crawley
Hammerjack were instructed to take back to shell a large industrial unit which had been abandoned by the previous owners so that it could be re-leased to new occupants. Asbestos had to identified and removed. All the walk-in fridges had to be dismantled safely and disposed of as they had ozone depleting insulation within their panelling. Un characterised and labelled, dangerous chemicals and gasses had to be risk assessed and disposed. Buried oil and diesel tanks cleaned and excavated. All the M&E including gas mains and air conditioning had to be isolated, re-routed, blanked, degassed, and removed by hand at height on scissor lifts. The offices had to be stripped back, demolished in parts, and reconfigured to the original design. The floor had to be cleaned and prepared for the new occupants. The work was carried out with a team of 32 men, seven days a week and completed in six weeks (one week ahead of target).
Strip Out-Herford Hospital
Hammerjack were contracted to strip out the ICU wing at Hereford Hospital by a Blue-Chip Client. The works were reactive and had to be carried out with two days’ notice and all the accumulated debris had to be segregated into recyclable groups and taken to individual facilities to ensure we attained the clients a 95% recycle targets. The work was carried out with a large team within two weeks on target.
Strip Out Former Magnet Store, Wrexham
Hammerjack were contracted to strip back the unit of a former Magnet Store to allow for its new occupancy after a previous contractor failed to begin the works. The works ere reactive and the project was priced, awarded and we were onsite within three days of first contact.
Strip Out-Former Offices and nightclub- Liverpool
Hammerjack were called in to remove a huge amount of asbestos from multiple floors and strip back all the offices and nightclub back to shell to allow for re-occupancy and a new usage. The works involved removal of structural elements to re-configure the building and floor levels. The works involved removal of huge insitu built safes and document storage rooms as well as the removal of heavily fortified dancefloors and stages which themselves were above occupied store and offices below at ground level. All the work had to be carried out by hand with minimal notice and the waste carried out of the building via a single staircase. The lift could not be used due to dual occupancy.
Large Family Estate-Durham
Hammerjack were called in to an emmense private estate to remove the all the asbestos and demolish clear the sites of the old chicken sheds and farm buildings as part of a major revamp of the site. We had to go through a rigorous selection programme to ensure we were competent but also considerate of the complex challenges as there were archaeological sites of interest, centuries old walls and features of interest as well as the protection of ancient trees and species that the habitat was essential for their survival including a badger set, owls and bats and Newts. All of which had to be observed, new habits constructed and re-home to ensure they were safe in their new environment but also did not venture back into ours.