Kvaerner Trollope & Colls has been awarded a £30 million office redevelopment contract involving restoration of a massive landmark frontage on the corner of Kingsway and the Aldwych.
The major demolition and reconstruction scheme at St Catherine’s House, former home of births, deaths and marriage registrations, is the latest in the company’s long tradition of preserving some of the capital’s best-loved features.
Awarded by Inassist Ltd, the contract involves building the shell and core for a new 22,000-square metre office development with nine storeys plus a basement behind the existing retained frontage.
Dating back to 1915, the existing Portland stone and granite facade is some 100 metres long by 30 metres high. Having undergone many alterations over the years, it will be partially dismantled, cleaned and restored to its original appearance. Extensive temporary support will be necessary while this work is in progress. As a long-established contractor working in central London, Kvaerner Trollope & Colls’ extensive experience on retaining historic facades was a key factor in securing the project.
Working on a restricted site facing one of London’s busiest junctions and surrounded by the London School of Economics, Kvaerner Trollope & Colls will be taking special steps to minimise noise and disturbance to neighbouring occupiers. It will erect four acoustic screens seven storeys high within adjoining lightwells and the rear access area. Constructed with scaffolding and steelwork supporting baffle boards of plywood and rockwool, the screens will remain throughout the demolition and reconstruction phases of the project, due for completion in spring 2000.
The 93-week programme includes construction of new piled foundations and basement slab, plus the erection of 1,800 tonnes of structural steel frame linked to the existing facade columns.
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