BAFTA HEADQUARTERS
PICCADILLY LONDON
The Objective:
As part of a decent home project for Lakehouse plc on the Vanguard Estate in Deptford we were contracted to carry out the remainder of an asbestos removal programme previously started by another contractor who was replaced for continued health and safety failures. This meant that the quality of the project, the programme time and the client relationship was failing.
The works involved the removal of asbestos roof tiles and an asbestos cavity barrier which separated the roof voids.
Challenges:
We had to clean bulk storage items belonging to the tenant who had used the lofts as storage space. We then encountered several lofts contained mature bees nests whose occupants became quite feisty during our works, this led us to instruct a professional company to come in and remove them before we could complete our works. These unforeseen elements were adding to the delayed programme so to combat this and ensure we completed on time the supply chain of Capstan and the Scaffold Company increased labour levels to meet the programme delivery date on time
Total cost: £500,000.00
Project length: 8 Months
Client: Lakehouse
Head Quarters 195 Piccadilly, dates July – Dec 2019
Bafta in association with Knight Harwood are embarking upon a major renovation and remodeling of their iconic Grade II listed HQ, Exhibition centre and meeting venue situated on Piccadilly, one of London’s most prestigious addresses .This is a planned 2 plus year project and is the first major works on the building since the 1970s when Bafta took possession of the site from the historic Royal Institute of Watercolour artists.
Asbestos materials were used during the 1970s conversion throughout the building as fire breaks and fire-lining to floors, ceilings, & under the seating in the cinema auditorium, It was also used to create chimneys, flues & under floor cable trays, all discovered during the building survey. Capstan were appointed as the licensed asbestos removal contractor, working alongside the principal contractor Knight Harwood and other supply chain trades like strip-out contractors, M&E contractors & the scaffolding contractors.
As the site fronts Piccadilly with limited storage available inside or out all trades were competing for space which made the task of getting materials & supplies in and waste out of a building through the main entrance a challenge. A pit lane was installed to manage vehicle access on a one in one out basis with all materials and waste passing across a busy pavement where there is intense pedestrian traffic. This meant that just in time deliveries were essential so they could be unloaded and brought straight into the building, Likewise the use of wait & load vehicles was key to getting the waste out and away without the ability to stockpile at ground level.
Capstan’s initial programme spanned 13 weeks, as the soft strip in the building progressed extra floor voids & cavities were discovered which contained ACMs, this meant as we were nearing completion ahead of schedule on the original programme we had to extend it by a further 8 weeks to allow for the previously undiscovered asbestos. By now other works had been begun on site so the challenges of asbestos removal on an already busy site became amplified, as did the logistics of goods & materials in & waste out. All trades needed to work closely together sharing logistically to enable each other to operate safely & effectively in this environment.
As part of our environmental policy, wood (floor boards etc) was all decontaminated and cleaned & sent for recycling – asbestos removal is a trade in which nearly every material / tool / item of PPE needs to be disposed of as contaminated waste, so wood recycling presented our only opportunity to re-use and recycle on this project
Total cost: £500,000
Project length: 6 Months
Client: Knight Harwood
