Oldham Magistrates Court Case Study

The demolition and site clearance of the former Oldham Magistrates Court including; soft strip out work, soft landscaping, hard landscaping; grubbing up all foundations, crushing and backfilling all voids to footprint of the building. Oldham Magistrates Court was a 3 storey structure built in 1977; constructed of brick and concrete and overhung with flat felt covered roofs. A tunnel joined the courts to the adjacent Police Station. The courts were situated in Oldham bounded by West Street, King Street and Manchester Street. A car parking area runs adjacent to King Street; along West Street, there is the bus station and on the opposite side of West Street are the Council Offices. Oldham Police Station is directly behind the courts and to the east of the site and the area adjacent to Manchester Street are a number of shops and business premises.

A number of site features were to be protected during the demolition works:

• Trees and shrubs as indicated on Drawing No. 23421-KWS-00-00-DR-S-008
• The Police Memorial Grave was to be protected throughout the demolition work and access was to be maintained to the surrounding footpath throughout the demolition work; as indicated on Drawing No. 23421-KWS-00-00-DR-S-0006.
• All external furniture and fittings including benches, bins, lamp posts etc. (refer to drawing No: 23421-KWS 00-00-DR-S-0006 for locations) had to be set aside for reuse and stored in a location to be determined by the Client.
• The terracotta owls had to be carefully removed, cleaned off and set aside for reuse. These are being stored at our Head Office to be handed back to the Client at their request.