Abacus House

Clifford Devlin was appointed to carry out a package of enabling works to facilitate the refurbishment and renovation of this office block located in the heart of London's financial district.

The eight-storey block which has two basements is of concrete framed construction with external stone cladding.

The works involved demolition and structural alterations to enable significant re-modelling of the building's interior and exterior. Extensive temporary works were installed to protect and support the structure during the works.

A reinforced concrete shear wall was carefully demolished from 7th floor down to ground floor level using remote controlled demolition equipment supplemented by diamond drilling and saw cutting techniques.

• New riser openings were formed throughout the structure
• Sections of the first floor slab were removed to extend the property's existing reception area including removal of stone clad mullions to open up the existing entrance
• A new entrance was formed on Gutter Lane by removing first floor beams and mullions
• Internal and external reinforced concrete stairs were demolished from ground to basement level
• Areas of the ground floor structure were removed to form new lightwells

Other items removed included the building's roof coverings and its cradle access system.