334 Oxford Street, London, W1C

John F Hunt acted as principal contractor and conducted cut and carve demolition at our 120m x 100m site at 334 Oxford Street, formerly a Debenhams department store.

We demolished 70% of the footprint of the building and left five floors standing. Due to the site being set in Oxford Street, we had to take particular care to ensure that adjacent businesses could continue as normal, especially a hotel across the street and an office adjacent to our site.

We worked around a UKPN substation on the site, keeping it live during our works, and stripped out and removed roof plant. We also removed asbestos and conducted enabling works. Our enabling works included site clearance, surveys, excavation, hoarding, creation of roads/access, discharge of planning conditions, site utilities and diversion/disconnection of services.

Additionally, we demolished the unusual kinetic façade on four faces of the old Debenhams building. The screen consisted of 185,000 suspended aluminium shingles which rippled gently in the wind, and was the first cladding system of its kind in the UK. The shingles were suspended within a steel structural cladding frame.

The façade of the building had glass panels which needed to be removed, but due to the unusual shape of the façade, scaffolding could not be used.

We instead conducted abseiling works and worked nights for a week. The glass panels were handled with great care, particularly on the sides where they were especially delicate.

Carbon management on the site was discussed with the workforce and subcontractors, with regular toolbox talks with the workforce occurring to discuss relevant environmental issues on site. Training was also provided for the workforce regarding climate change, the necessity of reducing carbon emissions in construction and the conservation of energy and resources. We promoted environmental achievements through newsletters and a notice board.

John F Hunt received a letter from Local Authority Publicity Westminster, which thanked us for our support in the ‘Westminster Kensington & Chelsea Borough Road Safety Community Chart’ campaign, during which we had funded the production of posters.

Two CCS audits were conducted during our works, and we achieved Excellent (43/45) on both occasions.

We received a client commendation from George Martin of Blackburn & Co: ‘This building has thrown up several surprises over the last 11 months and your collaborative approach has been appreciated’