East Midlands Demolition, which has been involved in the demolition of the Mackworth site of Derby College, is offering excited students the opportunity to make the first cut in the demolition of the final site building in April.
The final stage of the project sees the Design Centre building coming down. The Design Centre was commissioned in 1998 and completed ahead of schedule in 2000, in time to see students populating it for the first time in the autumn term. The building linked the existing B and C block areas of the Mackworth campus with a multi storey glass fronting and its instantly recognisable curving roof and ‘smiling’ entrance canopy. The Design Centre was constructed using:
— all of which, of course, are to come down in style after one lucky student cuts off its entrance canopy with a Caterpillar 345 LME 50 tonne excavator, fitted with a 7.5 tonne 360 degree rotating shear.
East Midlands Demolition has joined forces with the student body at Derby College to run a raffle at the start of April, the winner of which gets one day’s induction and tuition in the use of the Cat. At the end of the day, he or she gets to do what every student in the country has wanted to do at one time or another — cut off the front of their college building with a piece of heavy industrial equipment! The rotating shear is capable of biting through an 18 inch steel girder in one go, so customer satisfaction is guaranteed.
The Mackworth site is being bought by Persimmon Homes, which plans to build 222 homes on the 15.7 acres it has purchased — making the Mackworth demolition project part of the largest single site sale to take place in Derby since 2005.
Part of the Mackworth site is being retained by Derby College, meaning that East Midlands Demolition has had to approach the project with its customary level of care and expertise. When completed, the demolition of the nominated areas of the College will have generated 40,000 tonnes of MOT Type 1 recycled concrete — which is being left onsite for Persimmon Homes to use in the creation of both road infrastructure and foundations.
The student-led demolition of the Design Centre will be covered by the Derby Evening Telegraph — a great result for the community and for East Midlands Demolition, which is proud to show evidence of its expertise and attention to detail. East Midlands Demolition will be continuing to make good on its environmental remit by ensuring that as much of the waste created during the demolition as possible will be recycled for future building projects.
