House of Fraser Store, Birkenhead

The project consisted of the demolition of the former department store in the town centre of Birkenhead.  The existing building was brick built with a flat roof and contained asbestos containing materials throughout.  The structure was surrounded by commercial properties and town centre streets to all elevations.

The buildings had an initial soft-strip to prepare them for asbestos removal which followed on systematically around the building.  Upon completion of the asbestos removal and soft strip, the building was demolished using a combination of our high reach demolition excavator and a couple of standard demolition excavators.  The site was cleared of debris and left level for further development

During the demolition phase, the adjacent roads and pavement were kept open to vehicular and pedestrian traffic, in particular the access road to the rear to the site which served other local shops and businesses.  At key points we utilised banksmen under radio control to keep watch and stop demolition temporarily when pedestrians or vehicles need to pass close by, thus eliminating the need for full road closures

As part of the demolition process, the removal of the building exposed gable ends to two adjacent buildings.  Our team installed a temporary weatherproofing layer, designed by our structural engineers, to both exposed gables to give them protection until such time as a permanent solution was devised.

In addition, a sculpture of a Ram’s Head which was fixed to the wall of the former department store, was carefully removed by hand and stored for safe keeping for the client who plans to re-install it in a suitable location in Birkenhead Town Centre in the future.