Keltbray has just completed its near on one-year contract at the historic Old War Office in Whitehall.
Phase 1 involved the soft stripping of fixtures and fittings by Keltbray Demolition & Civil Engineering and was followed by a second phase, which included asbestos removal to all floors throughout the 54,000 m² building.
“Westminster Development Services on behalf of private investment was granted permission to transform this historic site into a luxury hotel with separate apartments on the condition that the historic character of the 1000-room Graded II listed Edwardian building is not lost. We therefore worked closely with English Heritage to ensure 75% of the original mosaic and terrazzo ceramic floor was preserved while we worked to remove the asbestos from perimeter flor trenches and any asbestos containing pipework below central corridor mosaic flooring.
“We adapted our way of working to develop pilot enclosures in smaller areas for English Heritage to progressively approve our methods, and also used quilling method to remove asbestos containing Insulation beneath encapsulated paintwork and preserve the original perimeter basement corridor brick walls as far as possible,” explained Senior Contracts Manager for KES, Stephen Finken.
“This is the first time KES has been appointed principal contractor on such a major and high profile contract. Despite having to adopt our working methods, I’m pleased to say our 70-strong team (when at maximum levels) led by Site Manager, Denis Rafferty, and Senior Supervisor, Michael Chapel, did a great job to help preserve as much as possible of this historic and important building, and I’m glad that once the hotel has been built, Churchill’s office will still be available to visit for the public,” Stephen said.