Thursday March 19, 2020
Cawarden has begun the structural demolition of the former Debenhams building this week to clear the way for a £200 million project to regenerate Becketwell.
Cawarden is working on behalf of Derby City Council as the Principal Contractor for the project. In recent weeks, Cawarden’s site team has been completing the first phase of the works, which has involved stripping the interior – including floors and ceilings to be recycled. Passers-by will have also noticed the erection of the external scaffold which has since been covered in plastic sheeting.
Cawarden has now moved to the next phase of works which involves the structural deconstruction and demolition of the building. To facilitate the works, various items of plant and machinery has been moving in via crane this week.
Over the last 12 months, Cawarden has made a significant investment – over £2 million – in its in-house fleet of industry-leading plant and machinery. And two of the company’s latest demolition machines will be deployed for the first time at Debenhams.
All materials removed from the project will be reused and diverted from landfill where possible. Cawarden is targeting 95% of recycling of non-hazardous waste.
The on-site team is striving to keep disturbances to a minimum, and are undertaking real-time environmental noise, dust and vibration monitoring, to ensure that they are working within their strict guidelines.
Cawarden is planning to complete the structural demolition of the building by May 2020.
The demolition of Debenhams is key to the development of the Becketwell site. In its place, will be a two-tower apartment block. There will also be car parking, servicing and a new public square created adjacent to the apartment blocks.
We’re excited to be helping with the regeneration of Derby’s Becketwell area. This is a site with significant space constraints. The project has taken a great deal of planning and coordination with Derby City Council and other stakeholders to get things to where we could complete all required planning stages and agree to the logistics for the project, and finally commence the structural demolition. We have been involved with Derby City Council in this planning process from an early stage, and this is a great example of early engagement between client and contractor.