Built in 1932 and one of the most recognisable buildings located in the heart of Manchester, the Rylands Building is a large 11 floor Grade ll listed building and former department store on Market Street. Over the course of 30 weeks, the skilled operatives here at Reddish Vale were brought on board to undertake an extensive asbestos removal and soft strip demolition project to the iconic building.
To learn more about how we completed this large commercial project safely, compliantly and efficiently, carry on reading!
History of the Rylands Building
The Rylands Building was originally built as a warehouse by J. Gerrard & Sons of Swinton for the Rylands textile company (Rylands & Sons Ltd). Becoming Manchester’s first multi-millionaire, founder John Ryland was a textile merchant and manufacturer and employed around 15,000 employees across his various mills and factories.
Also home to the Piccadilly Hotel, Marks and Spencers and Burton for a period of time alongside the wholesale warehouse, it was October 30th 1958 that the Paulden’s of Piccadilly department store opened for business at the Rylands Building. Despite being purchased by Debenhams in the 1920s, they continued trading under the Paulden’s name until 1973.
Since its opening, Paulden’s became a direct competitor of Lewis’ and continued to be a fixture of Manchester’s retail landscape until Debenhams’ administration in 2020.
Rylands Building Project Plans
With plans to be renovated and refurbished into a mixed-use development, comprising retail, leisure and office space, much preparatory work was needed in order to get the building ready for the next stage of building development.
The proposal details 70,000ft² of retail and leisure space on the ground floor, comprising of a retail arcade accessible from the high street, 258,000ft² of office space on the upper three floors, a four-storey rooftop extension, featuring a further 40,000ft² of offices, and a winter garden on the sixth floor. As noted by the building owners, the aim of this project is to provide a space to connect, create a vibrant community and offer an exciting new destination in Central Manchester.
Soft Strip Demolition & Asbestos Removal
In order to progress these plans safely and compliantly, the skilled operatives here at Reddish Vale were enlisted to undertake the removal of asbestos and soft strip demolition to the building. Our contract team were on-site frequently throughout the project to ensure smooth operations, and many site safety audits were carried out by both our accreditation bodies and ourselves to guarantee all aspects of health and safety requirements were adhered to.
Complete details of all the materials removed can be found in our case study here.
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Soft Strip Demolition
During the soft strip demolition, there was an extensive list of materials, fittings, fixtures, partitions, furniture and much more which needed to be completely stripped from all floors of the Rylands Building.
Alongside this, various redundant M&E installations required safe removal from floor level, such as: lighting, water/heating installations and pipework needed to be safely stripped from the site. Gas-fired boilers and oil/diesel tanks needed to be removed and have their liquids safely disposed of, as well as existing sprinkler systems to ceilings of all floors.
One of the unique elements of this soft strip demolition project was the careful removal of mesh screens, partitions, shelving and more to ensure the heritage features were not damaged in the process and helping to retain the building’s history during the refurbishment project.
In addition, various elements extracted as part of the soft strip were saved for reuse off-site as part of the client’s sustainability initiative, such as generators, alternators, air conditioning units, fuel tanks and more. A total of nine escalators were removed, set to be reused where possible.
Asbestos Removal
Complex asbestos removal of both licensed and non-licensed asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) was expected from a project of this size. All of our works were completed whilst adhering to strict asbestos regulations as set out by the Health and Safety Executive, guaranteeing the safety of all operatives working on-site, as well as any site visitors.
There were several different types of ACMs we removed as a result, including: extensively found asbestos insulation debris to surfaces, walls, floors, pipework, electrical boxes, ceiling penetrations and more across the site.
We removed fixed AIB panels to the walls around lift door openings, in addition to a large array of non-licensed asbestos like floor coverings, substrate bitumen adhesives, asbestos textiles, ropes, gaskets and mastics.
Project Completion
We completed this large 30-week project on time with no delays, ensuring that the following works could take place as originally planned. Though an extensive project, the team at Reddish Vale are pleased with the outcome of the works, and are eager to see the final product. If you require licensed contractors to help with soft strip demolition or asbestos removal, please contact us today for your free quote!
