Contractors appointed for Burlington House demoltion

DDS Demolition has been commissioned to demolish the Burlington House complex in Dover as a prelude to the £60m redevelopment of the St James's retail and leisure scheme. Preparatory works for the demolition of the 1970s tower block and associated buildings are due to start in July when Dover District Council takes possession of the site following a compulsory purchase.

East Kent based DDS Demolition are well versed in working in sensitive, live traffic environments and are currently working on the demolition of buildings in Dover's Eastern Docks. Established in 1977, DDS has extensive experience in the demolition of tower and office blocks in towns and city centres.

Jay Preece, Operations Manager, DDS Demolition said: "We're delighted to be working on this project. We'll be working closely with Bond City and Dover District Council to ensure that we minimise disruption to the local community during the demolition."

The multi-storey car park will be the first building to be demolished to create more space for the processing of materials from the demolition of Burlington House. Due to the proximity of Burlington House to Townwall Street and local services the building will be encapsulated with scaffolding to minimise the environmental impact and demolished floor-by-floor using a top-down method.

Waste streams will be processed on-site to minimise vehicle movements, with as much as possible recycled for use in the construction of the St James's retail and leisure development. Waste leaving the site will be handled by local firm, TW Services, with the aim of achieving 'Zero to Landfill' through recycling and recovery.

Demolition of Burlington House is expected to be complete this winter so that construction of the main retail block on Townwall Street can start in early Spring 2016. Construction of the hotel and cinema will start this autumn.

Clive Lynton of developers, Bond City, said: "We're delighted to be working with DDS Demolition to rid the town of its most unloved building, and to starting work on the construction of the new retail and leisure facilities that will revive Dover's town centre."

Cllr Paul Watkins, Leader, Dover District Council, said: "We know that everyone will be glad to see the back of Burlington House! It will restore the vista of Dover's historic castle from this part of the town, and is highly symbolic of a new, positive future of growth and opportunity for Dover."