Kori Construction tells Chiswick police station neighbours they will do their best to minimise disruption

The police station about to be demolished

As work is about to start knocking down the empty police station building, the construction company meets the local residents

The construction company carrying out the work on the police station site in Chiswick held a meeting for residents on Wednesday (2 September), and those I spoke to afterwards did seem mollified, glad they had made the effort, that the disruption will be monitored, and there will be an open channel of communication with the them.

Roula Konzotis from the Linden Gardens residents association told me the presentation had been “very informative” and “clear”, and they hoped from that, that communication with the company during the work would be quite straightforward

Kori construction is starting work on the site this month. It will take two years to pull down the police station and build an apartment block with 50 one and two bedroom flats. Eventually they will be available for rent for people aged 65 and over, but residents can expect considerabble disruption in the meantime.

READ ALSO: Birchgrove announce start date to demolish Chiswick police station

Richard Ball, Kori’s director of Health, Safety, Environment and Quality, addressed the meeting at Chiswick Town Hall with Construction director Scott Bartlett to explain their plans and try and reassure residents they would minimise the dust and disturbance as much as they could.

They plan to start the demolition of the existing building in October and to have it completed by December.

How the new development will look when it is completed

Ssssh! We’re building

Their presentation brought to mind that old TV advert where the dustmen are tiptoing about exaggeratedly making as little noise as possible (“How Refreshing, How Heineken”).

Piling will start next February using the CFA method, which is quieter than the traditional driven piling, which uses loud impact hammers that create massive noise and ground shocks.

CFA piling relies on a rotating continuous auger that drills into the earth. Concrete is pumped in under pressure and a pre-formed steel reinforcement cage is pushed down into the freshly poured, wet concrete column to give it structural strength.

We can expect to see the installation of a tower crane in March and the concrete frame of the new building will start taking shape from April. Scaffolding will go up in July as they begin work on the facade. By this time next year they should be starting on the internal finishing work.

They plan to start on the roof in October next year, take the scaffolding down in May 2028 and remove the tower crane the following month, when all that will remain to be done is hte landscaping. Practical completion expected December 2028.

Computer generated image of the Birchgrove development from the west

Noise, dust, traffic management

The work will be carried out between 08.00 am – 6.00 pm Monday – Friday, and 08.00 am – 1.00 pm Saturday, with no working on Sundays or Bank holidays. The Sunday markets will not be affected, they said.

Kori will unload their vehicles in Old Market Place, directly in front of the existing building, and store their materials inside the site. The Tower crane will be in the centre of the site. Pedestrian access from Linden Gardens. There will be marshals in the car park when they are moving things about.

Plan of the site shown to residents at the meeting

They say deliveries will be managed to minimise Chiswick High Road disruption, with vehicle movements planned outside peak times. The site will be fully hoarded, with ’24-hour security, clear signage and a safe pedestrian environment on Chiswick High Road and Linden Gardens’.

Asked at the meeting about how they could keep the dust down, Richard Ball said he couldn’t promise to come and clean everyone’s windows, but they would be using ‘best-practice dust suppression’ and would monitor the dust and noise. They would be open to an ongoing dialogue with neighbours to minimise the disruption as much as possible.

They promised to keep the site clean and tidy, with daily perimeter inspections, wheel-washing for vehicles leaving the site, and regular street cleaning of adjacent footpaths.

They also promised to support the local economy by making it a preference to hire local labour, subcontractors and suppliers, including the provision of apprenticeships and training opportunities for local people.

Corner of Linden Gardens and Old Market Place on Sunday, when the Chiswick Flower Market was celebrating its sixth birthday

‘Talk to us’

Residents will have named site contacts they can talk to, and they promised rapid response to concerns, with regular liason. There is also the option of reporting concerns independently to the Considerate Constructors Scheme.

The residents I spoke to after the meeting seemed reassured. They know the work will be disruptive but seemed to accept the company would do its best.

The contact details for the Contracts Manager, Project Manager and Head of Sustainability will be displayed on the hoarding and shared with residents.

There will be monthly newsletters emailed to residents providing updates and advance notice will be given of major activities – ‘e.g. particularly disruptive activities’.

‘Neighbours are welcome to raise concerns at any time through face-to-face conversations, by email or telephone. We aim to respond within one working day’.

Abundance London plan to decorate the hoarding

The cityscape of London which has been decorating the building for the past few years came down at the end of August. London Panorama by Will Pearson was the last remnant of the great Butterfly Wall created by Abundance London in 2021.

READ ALSO: Abundance London launches Butterflies and Flowers artwork on Chiswick police station

The environmental campaign group organised groups of people, partcularly children, to paint little wooden buterflies to decorate the building while it was standing empty.

They plan to put up a new mural, in partnership with six local schools – Belmont, Chiswick, Grove Park, Strand-on-the-Green, St Mary’s, William Hogarth – on the new hoardings when they go up.

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