Encia starts taking down former BBC HQ
DEMOLITION and remediation group Encia has started taking down the main structure of the BBC’s former home in Manchester on Oxford Road.
The Knutsford-based group has spent the past 12 weeks stripping out internal fittings and has now turned its attention to the concrete and steel frame.
The first part of the 1970s complex to go was Studio A – home to A Question of Sport, Red Dwarf and Life on Mars, amongst others.
The BBC moved to new premises last year and the site is now owned by Realty Estates which unveiled outline plans for an 800,000 sq ft mixed use development in June.
Encia contracts director Neil Garner said: “There was asbestos which was removed by AA Woods and since then we’ve been doing an internal soft strip.
“We’ve now demolished some of the structures at the back of the site which gives us acces to the main building on Oxford Road.”
Mr Garner estimates there is around 30,000 tonnes of concrete on site, in the form of the concrete frame and cast in-situ floors. He expects around 90% of the material will be recycled.
His team plans to take down the Brancaster Road and Charles St sides of the block first, and these roads will be closed over four weekends. Oxford Road will be unaffected.
Encia expects the job to take four weeks and is aiming to finish the demolition of the main buiding before the students return when the number of people using Oxford Road increases dramatically.The business, which employs 30 staff, is a former unit of the US insurance group AIG but was bought by a management team led by Nick Bone about 10 years ago.
Recent demolition jobs have included the Foden Trucks site in Sandbach and Pendlebury Children’s Hospital in Salford.
Pictured from top: Demolition of the main building from the rear; the site from Oxford Road; more demolition; and an empty control room adjacent to the cavernous BBC Philharmonic recording space.
