Norwich - Victoria Road

Programme Duration: 32 Weeks

Scope: Turnkey demolition including services disconnections, asbestos surveys and removal, and full structural demolition.

Project Description:

Shorts Group was appointed to deliver the full demolition of an existing 1970s eight-storey office block located on Victoria Road, Norwich. The project was undertaken on a turnkey basis, incorporating all enabling and demolition works. The site was located within a densely built-up city centre environment. Of particular note, the western elevation of the structure stood just 5 metres from a neighbouring live seven-storey office building, creating significant interface, safety, and stakeholder management challenges.

1. Proximity to Live Neighbouring Properties

The close proximity of occupied buildings required careful consideration of demolition methodology and protective measures. Alternative proposals relied on full-height scaffolding and high-reach demolition. Given recent industry-wide scaffold failures, this approach was assessed as presenting an unacceptable level of risk.

2. Built-Up Environment & Community Impact

The urban setting increased the potential impact of demolition activities on local residents and businesses, particularly in relation to noise, vibration, and dust during heavy plant operations.

3. Environmental & Ecological Constraints

During early works, fledglings were identified on a separate roof area, which had the potential to halt demolition works and impact the programme.

Safety-Led Demolition Strategy

Shorts Group developed a bespoke demolition methodology that removed reliance on scaffold protection and significantly reduced risk. This included:

• Partial top-down demolition to the elevation closest to the neighbouring building

• Installation of a physical protection barrier, comprising: 

o A 40-yard skip formed a stable physical barrier to prevent any material that could fall from height during the high reach work from bouncing out of our boundary 

o A demolition curtain

This eliminated the risk of scaffold collapse while maintaining protection to the adjacent occupied property.

Stakeholder Engagement & Communication

Due to the sensitive location, a pre-start local residents’ meeting was held prior to commencement. Ongoing communication was maintained through a dedicated WhatsApp group, allowing residents to contact the site team directly with any concerns, ensuring rapid response and issue resolution.

Monitoring & Control Measures

Given the use of heavy plant, noise, vibration, and dust monitoring equipment was installed around the site. These provided formal real-time readings, with early warning alerts issued to the management team should elevated levels be recorded, enabling immediate corrective action.

Programme Adaptation

The demolition sequence was reprogrammed to allow top-down demolition in unaffected areas while ecological constraints were managed elsewhere, avoiding any impact on the overall programme.

• No damage or disruption to neighbouring occupied buildings

• No programme delay despite ecological constraints

• Effective community engagement with no formal complaints

• Environmental impacts monitored and controlled in real time

• Scaffold-related risks removed

• Project delivered within the 32-week programme and within the budget

Learning Outcome:

This project reinforced the importance of early stakeholder engagement, real-time environmental monitoring, and innovative, safety-led demolition methodologies. Flexibility in planning and a proactive approach were key to successfully delivering a complex demolition project within a constrained urban environment.

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