Giant machine tears down city centre office block

59 minutes ago

Owen Sennittat Anglia Square in Norwich

News image — Work has begun to demolish Gildengate House at Anglia Square in Norwich

Owen Sennitt/BBC The arm of a huge crane-like demolition machine taking chunks out of a 1970s tower block. The block, at least seven storeys high, is largely intact as work has just begun. There are trees in the foreground. — Work has begun to demolish Gildengate House at Anglia Square in Norwich

A 1970s city centre office block is being torn down by a huge demolition machine as a major project to build 1,100 homes enters a new phase.

Gildengate House and Sovereign House are the only prominent buildings still standing at Norwich's Anglia Square, but now work has begun to raze them both to the ground.

On Tuesday, a piece of engineering equipment described as one of the tallest in the country began taking chunks out of Gildengate House as onlookers gathered to witness the destruction.

Lucy Galvin, the Green leader of Norwich City Council, gave reassurances the work would be done "very carefully" after the collapse of other buildings at the site caused large dust clouds.

Since 2010, Gildengate House had been used by dozens of artists, who had their studios there. They were forced to leave after the block was bought by the council.

Owen Sennitt/BBC A woman with glasses and wearing a light top and jacket looks towards the camera across the road from a large office block at Anglia Square. The arm of a tall crane-like machine is demolishing the block. — Lucy Galvin, a Green councillor and the leader of Norwich City Council, on a visit to the demolition site

Galvin added the demolition was on track, despite the discovery of human remains at the site, believed to be from graves in a medieval churchyard.

She said a team of archaeologists had been handling the remains, which would be carbon dated and "carefully stored".

"This is an ancient part of Norwich so we were expecting to find some history here," she said.

Other issues have included trespassers and there have been concerns raised about asbestos - dismissed by the council after it took test samples.

Owen Sennitt/BBC Two men, one with a bicycle, take photos on their phones of a large derelict office block at Anglia Square in Norwich. The several-storey block is behind a grey hoarding with barbed wire on the top. The huge orange arm of a large demolition machine is tearing a chunk of debris out of the top of the 1970s block. The sky is grey. — Passers-by took pictures and videos of the demolition

The dismantling of the former Anglia Square complex by Birmingham-based DSM Demolition has been drawing crowds since work began in November last year.

Norwich City Council bought the site for £5.6m. To deliver the £350m project, it has gained funding from the government's regeneration agency Homes England, alongside investment from Aviva Capital Partners.

Elsewhere, the city council is also developing plans to transform the former Colman's mustard factory, Carrow Works, into housing. A consultation begins on Friday.

Galvin added that residents also had the final chance to have their say on a proposal to redevelop City Hall, with a consultation on that project closing on Wednesday at 17:00 BST.