Impressive 5-storey office building in central London undergoes a shell and core strip-out.

One Bessborough Gardens is a prominent Neoclassical-style city block located north of Vauxhall Bridge, adjacent to the Thames. A government agency occupied it for 20 years and is undergoing extensive refurbishment and repositioning (at the time of publication). The aim is to provide excellent workplace accommodation on a large scale, which is highly sought-after in Millbank.

Charles Street Buildings Group appointed Cawarden as the Principal Contractor to deliver a full shell and core strip-out of the five-storey former office building. Our core site management team led the project, while we employed highly skilled local labour to undertake the extensive scope of works.

We removed all fixtures, fittings, plant rooms, air conditioning units, pipework, and electrical cables, leaving the building stripped back to its bare bones. We also handled the appropriate service isolations during the process.

Due to space limitations and only one tight entrance, all materials had to be removed manually using the existing internal lifts. Managing the logistics and site constraints efficiently was one of the key challenges for the team.

As there was no room to house skips, all waste/recyclable materials were efficiently segregated and transferred to a licensed recycling facility using a pick-up. We degassed the air conditioning systems and handled and disposed of fluorescent tubes appropriately.

Our teams of highly experienced and trained professionals treated the removal of all non-structural elements from the property with great care to ensure that no damage was caused to the structure or any retained elements, including the staircases which were suitably protected throughout.

Some materials were required to be saved for later reuse by the client during the refurbishment.

Now that the building has been meticulously prepared, it is ready for an exciting next phase of development.