World Demolition Awards Shortlist - Collaboration Award

Congratulations to the following companies who made the Collaboration Award shortlist.

World Demolition Awards 2025 - Collaboration Award

DDM Demontage

COUNTRY: Philipines

PROJECT: DDM Asia Philippines – EPRD Refinery Demolition project

CLIENT: Oil company in the Philipines

STATEMENT:

Photo: DDM Demontage

In the heart of the Philippines, DDM undertook the ambitious task of transforming a refinery into a World-Class Tank Terminal. The projects defining challenge?

Executing a safe, large-scale demolition using 75% local workforce, many of whom had limited experience in industrial decommissioning.

To succeed, DDM built an integrated team combining European technical experts and Filipino employees. Collaboration was not a byproduct, it was the foundation.

Through team-building sessions, hands-on mentoring, and co-developed HSSE planning, DDM fostered mutual trust, skill-sharing, and a culture of joint responsibility.

Key dismantling work included the removal and sustainable recycling of process installations, gasspheres, crude oil tanks, the flare system, and site buildings. Despite the complexity of working within a live facility, the team achieved zero safety incidents and a 99% recycling rate.

Beyond technical success, the project delivered lasting social value. Local workers gained transferable skills and several progressed into leadership roles.

The initiative also strengthened relationships with surrounding communities, demonstrating how industrial projects can be drivers of local development.

This project stands as a blueprint for how demolition can be both world-class and community-rooted, proving that when you invest in collaboration, everyone rises

Grupo Mitre

COUNTRY: Argentina

PROJECT: Calidra San Juan

CLIENT: Calidra

STATEMENT:

Photo: Grupo Mitre

Grupo Mitre, a pioneer in sustainable demolition, partnered with leading steel producer ArcelorMittal Acindar and Calidra, Latin America’s top lime manufacturer, to transform the Calidra San Juan project into a benchmark of circular collaboration. The intervention spanned four industrial plants located in high-altitude mountain regions of San Juan province, Argentina, all within continuously operating production environments.

The challenge involved dismantling large steel and concrete structures using flame cutting at height, precision lifting, and specialized equipment including 200-ton cranes, demolition robots, and access platforms reaching up to 40 meters. An innovative platform was developed to allow a demolition robot to safely enter the kilns and extract refractory bricks, optimizing time and minimizing risk.

The project is being executed under ISO integrated certification, with strict safety protocols in place to address extreme temperatures and exposure to lime—achieving zero incidents to date. Thanks to the collaboration with ArcelorMittal Acindar, over 5,000 tons of scrap metal are being recovered and recycled, aligning the project with circular economy principles.

Originally scheduled for six months, the work will be completed in four—solidifying Grupo Mitre’s position as a regional leader in safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible industrial demolition.

Mann Group

COUNTRY: Australia

PROJECT: Chifley South Tower Demolition

CLIENT: Built Pty Ltd

STATEMENT:

Photo: Mann Group

The Chifley South Tower project, located in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, showcased exceptional collaboration in the face of extraordinary complexity. MANN was engaged to carry out the demolition of the South Tower whilst the adjacent 43-storey Chifley North Tower remained fully operational, despite thousands of essential services running through the demolition zone to support North Tower functions.

The project demanded an unprecedented level of coordination between demolition crews, service trades, structural engineers, and the client team. Mann led the development of a carefully staged program, facilitating daily interface meetings and workshops to ensure every move was aligned with all involved.

A major challenge was the hand strip-out of 18,000m² of office fit out due to limited service disconnections. This enabled service trades to follow closely behind, identifying, isolating, and rerouting live systems without disrupting North Tower operations.

An evolving scope around the retention system became a collaborative highlight. Initially intended as a temporary measure to enable the Demolition works, it was reimagined mid-project to also serve as part of the Client’s permanent retention solution. Mann coordinated multiple engineering consultants and stakeholders to deliver a compliant, integrated design without impacting or slowing down the demolition program.

As demolition neared completion, new construction activities commenced simultaneously. MANN successfully maintained sitewide safety and productivity through detailed planning and cross-trade cooperation.

The Chifley South Tower demolition stands as a model of collaborative delivery under pressure, where trust, communication, and shared problem-solving ensured the success of one of Sydney’s most technically demanding demolition projects.

Safedem, Wheatley, and Despe

COUNTRY: Scotland

PROJECT: Wyndford Demolition

CLIENT: Wheatley Group

STATEMENT:

No longer is it purely the technical aspects of a project that demolition professionals are faced with.

Photo: Safedem

Nowadays, external factors, political activists, building conservationists, environmental concerns, embodied carbon, and nearby residents who resist any change and are “anti-demolition”, are all challenges that need to be addressed and overcome.

At Wyndford in Glasgow, UK, client Wheately Group and contractor Safedem were faced with a barrage of challenges that required the traditional client-contractor contractual approach to be ripped up and replaced by a collaborative partnership philosophy that ultimately drew upon 24 organisations to support and deliver a safe and successful demolition project.

Testimonials include:  “The sense of teamwork to get the job done was incredible” – Wheatley Area Housing Office

“the contractors attention to detail and professionalism filtered through the entire planning and co-ordination group” – Police Scotland

“…great team spirit and empathy for displaced residents” – Glasgow City Council Health & Social Care Partnership

“a pleasure to be part of such a well organised and managed project” – Effective Engineering

Ward Brunet

COUNTRY: Vanuatu

PROJECT: Resurrecting Earthquake Damaged Vanuatu

CLIENT: Port Villa City

STATEMENT:

Photo: Ward Brunet

On the 17th of December 2024, a 7.3 earthquake struck Vanuatu’s capitol Port Vila, killing 14 people and displacing 1473 from their homes. The extensive damage shut down the city.

Ward Brunet Ltd was formulated with the goal of re opening the city as soon as possible. A collaboration between New Zealand’s Ward Demolition and Vanuatu’s Pierre Brunet Enterprises, born out of necessity to resurrect earthquake damaged Vanuatu.

Ward Demolition have the high level of expertise with unstable multistory demolition, gained from the 2011 Christchurch earthquake aftermath and 38 years of demolition experience.

Pierre Brunet Enterprise is a Vanuatuan company with over 30 years’ experience in construction and civil works. Their local knowledge, connections and workforce was crucial to the collaboration.

Together, Ward Brunet has safely executed the Demolition of 15 out of 20 earthquake damaged structures thus far. Challenges included having to adapt the limited equipment readily available on an island with limited resources.

While implementing improved safety equipment and procedures to combat a relaxed safety culture due to a lack of safety laws. Zero incidents occurred during the rapid demolition of all 15 structures.

This collaboration has not only been mutually essential and beneficial to both companies, but to the city, that gets to get back on track. Ward Brunet has and will continue to help the community heal.

Speed was paramount to allow the community to begin reestablishing the local economy. Dalton Ward, lead operator and projects manager said: “as a company these projects have been some of the most rapid demolitions we have seen in our careers.”