Working within a live shopping centre to deliver a complex demolition, dismantling and alterations package at the Grade II Listed Bolton Market Hall.

Bolton Market Hall was first opened in December 1855. The Victorian structure has stone façades, a cast iron and glass roof and is a listed building. Plans to redevelop and extend the market hall meant that aspects of the building had to be carefully demolished, dismantled and altered – all whilst the facilities remained open to shoppers!

Cawarden worked under an NEC contract for the main contractor, McLaren Construction. Our scope of works included the soft strip of former shopping units, the demolition of the top floor of a multi-storey car park, and the removal of numerous stairwells, escalators, façades, and lift pits.

Meticulous planning and night work enabled the dismantling and removal of the large glass and steel atrium within the centre of the market.

Within the basement, large brick walls also required demolition and several large items of redundant plant were decommissioned.

The project presented complex challenges as it was spread across eight levels of the shopping centre and close to listed sections of the Victorian structure. Within the car park, there was a maximum load-bearing of only 3 tonnes. To tackle this, a lightweight remote-controlled demolition ‘robot’ (Brokk) was used to demolish the top floor of the car park instead of conventional demolition machinery.

We also removed a tarmac topping to the retained car park areas. Other works involved diamond cutting, hot works demolition, and splits to make way for a new canopy and extensions.

The Cawarden team successfully tackled the logistical challenges the project presented. Careful planning of works meant that the flow of tens of thousands of tonnes of material kept moving. Materials were moved internally to the basement areas, segregated and loaded into skips. We also used one of the largest fixed cranes in Europe to lift out very large steels on night shifts. We operated 12-hour shift patterns, 24 hours a day, and with multiple gangs working in different areas of the site. This ensured we delivered to the tight programme of works and the shopping centre could remain operational during the day.

Exceptional project management and regular liaison with all other contractors on-site were the keys to the success of this multi-faceted project. Progress meetings allowed all parties to discuss upcoming phases of works, share progress, and complete the works safely, efficiently, and within the project programme.