Armoury clears the way for new Birmingham library

The Big City Plan will see a £193 million (US$300 million) new high specification Library of Birmingham constructed by main contractor Carillion in Centenary Square in Birmingham, UK, that will integrate new library facilities with the nearby Repertory Theatre.

Carillion has brought in demolition contractor Armoury Group to carry out the initial enabling works as well as a two-stage demolition programme for surrounding buildings to create the space for the new build. Armoury planned a gradual redevelopment of the site to allow other work to be carried out, while at the same time erecting substantial hording structures to protect the surrounding footpaths and enable the Theatre to remain open as a live venue throughout the duration of the project.

The demolition was complicated by the fact that an extensive 19^th century industrial complex had occupied the site that was home to the brass working industry centred around two redundant canal arms. Armoury worked alongside archaeology teams from Birmingham University for over four months to fully excavate and record the site to protect its historical legacy.

Armoury has already demolished a three storey building on one side of the theatre using Brokk demolition robots, with the other buildings being cleared from the site during the summer of 2011. It is estimated that 28,000 m³ (990,000 ft³) of demolition waste will be generated by the project, of which 98% will be recycled. All rubble will either be crushed at Armoury's Birmingham recycling facility or used on site in the piling process by Carillion Piling.

According to Armoury managing director Tony McLean: "We feel that it is important to demonstrate an unrivalled competence in delivering highly sustainable solutions during environmentally hazardous processes, so it has been doing much more than just recycling to ensure this is the case. We have actively minimised the environmental impact of our work by bringing in full time dust sweepers and employing Vibro-silencers on all equipment to ensure that boundary noise levels do not exceed 85 decibels."