120 Fleet Street – London
Client: Core City Offices/Chinese Estates
Duration: 52 Weeks
Value – £2.75m
Project Details
The project at 120 Fleet Street involved the soft strip of 13no floors which was formerly occupied by Goldman Sachs. The Old Daily Express news paper Head Office building had been incorporated into the main structure and is Grade 2 listed due its iconic status. The project was awarded in two phases, with us undertaking the soft strip of floors 1 and 2 initially for the phase 1 works. We were subsequently awarded the phase 2 works which involved the soft strip of the remaining 11 floors.
The building had been vacated prior to our commencement on site with the exception of the live Boots retail unit on the ground floor. Initially some localised services to the first and second floors had been isolated to facilitate phase 1, however due to the size and nature of the buildings previous use our team discovered extensive live services running through the soft strip work areas. We worked with our specialist M&E contractor to assist the client in ascertaining which services could be made redundant whilst still maintaining the Landlord supplies. To ensure the safety of our operatives we created a 2m investigation zone around the risers so any lives services could be identified, tagged and safely isolated prior to us isolating the whole building and putting in a temporary works supply. We also had to ensure that the Boots retail unit services were maintained throughout.
Our soft strip scope of works included not only the careful removal of all redundant services, but also included all non structural partitions, doors, column casings, suspended ceilings, raised floors and perimeter radiators. There were also several large toilet blocks on some floors that were removed in their entirety as well as 2 large reception areas on the Ground Floor.
All soft strip arisings were transported internally within the building using the existing goods lifts to the loading bay area. The loading bay entrance was in St Brides Street, a very busy cut through for cyclists. A stringent traffic management system including traffic marshalls and pull out turtle barriers was implemented for the management of all site vehicles to and from site. To minimise the noise to external loading operations, we erected an acoustic curtain which went around the loading bay doors. The phase 2 works also included the careful soft strip of the Daily Express Building which involved installing protective measures to protect the listed features.
The project commenced during the Covid-19 outbreak and careful consideration was given to how the site would be set up to keep the workforce safe and ensure that that works could take place while adhering to latest Government and the Construction Leadership Council’s Guidelines. Clear directional signage and decals were used around the site, as well as the use of one way systems to ensure that all site operatives and visitors were able to move around the building and work areas safely. Strict protocols were put in place including temperature checking twice a day and staggered breaks. Signage, briefings and toolbox talks were also used as methods to ensure that all those on site understood the importance of, and were adhering to, the measures that were put in place.
