In 2024, Abyss Demolition was engaged to partially demolish the Kenmore Village Shopping Centre as a part of the redevelopment of the local retail precinct. The demolition of the Northern portion of the shopping centre was conducted while still connected to operational areas of the shopping centre. The building was a two-storey, concrete superstructure with asbestos contaminated materials throughout which required removal prior to demolition works. Careful planning with the head-contractor and other stakeholders was paramount to the project’s success. Containment scaffold, manual separation, and calculated staging allowed the hazardous asbestos removal and demolition works to be completed safely and promptly.

Site preparation:

• Isolate and relocate services to shopping centre’s surrounding tenants
• Supply and install containment scaffolding

Safety:

• Collaboration with head contractor and Abyss’s sub-subcontractors and suppliers
• Staging of works including working outside of regular hours
• Safe removal of asbestos verified by air monitoring conducted by an independent licenced hygienist and clearance certificates
• Collaboration with structural engineers

Key project highlights:

• Unknown services and hidden asbestos contaminated materials identified early in the works required meticulous project and site management to ensure works were uninterrupted
• Protection of persons and structures to remain was a critical element in the project which was addressed in the projects planning and execution.