O2 Arena, Building 11

Strip Out and Enabling

Client: British Land / Alinea Consulting
Project: O2 Arena, Building 11

Brief Description

Working alongside the Principle Contractor, ISG, KpH Deconstruction undertook this 7 month Strip Out and Enabling project at the renowned O2 Arena in Greenwich, London,  named “Project Mint”.

The aim of Project Mint was to complete the circuit of the O2 to give visitors a 360-degree experience. It was KpH’s responsibility to facilitate the building of new escalators and stairs from the Ground Floor to the “Casino slab”, which would act as the new entrance for the Shopping Centre.

The size of the Site was one half of the O2 Arena and, in some areas, it took 15 minutes to walk from one work space to another. Working in such a large work space was challenging, and careful consideration had to be given to where key areas, such as Welfare and First Aid, were set up. The Site was also “live” with merchandise stands, bars and restaurants situated only 5 metres from where KpH were working. In addition Sky Studios were carrying out live coverage of events right next to the works space. We therefore had to carefully plan noisy works around key business and coverage times to minimise disruption. Acoustic barriers and free standing scaffold with 30 metre screens were put in place to help shield the public from noise, dust and debris.

The generation of air pollution was a concern on Site and therefore levels of diesel fumes and dust had to be regulated. This was controlled with industrial fans. We also imposed exclusion zones, which in some cases covered vast areas of the site and had to be secured and monitored at all times.

Some of our works were carried out on a slab 7 metres above ground. Getting our tools and machinery to the slab, through such a tight space, required careful planning, and strict supervision and coordination by our experienced team.

Scope of Works

  • Soft Strip of redundant “back-of-house” and offices.
  • Installation of temporary works below the slab.
  • Erection of scaffold access and crash decks.
  • Saw cutting slab and breaking out, using diamond drilling, track sawing and robotic demolition techniques.
  • Removal of blockwork walls.
  • Removal and reduction of re-enforced concrete columns, using wire saws and spider cranes.
  • Creation of openings within lift shaft walls and shaft cap.
  • The creation of 12 smoke vents in the Roof of the building using Spider MEWPS (Mobile Elevating Work Platforms) to reach the 20 metres from
    slab to soffit.

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