Welcome to my fifth blog about the construction process of Courtyard Gardens on the former gasholder site here in Oxted.
For those of you who live nearby and are regular readers of my blogs you will know that the gasholder no longer exists and during the past few weeks the building works have started to take shape.
The demolition of the gasholder and clearing of the site is complete ready for the building process to commence, this photograph is how the site looked on 15 April 2019.
St William, who specialise in redeveloping redundant gas holder sites across London and the South East has now taken over as principal contractor. The project team have now moved to the site and into the new cabins during the building process.
Friday 17th May was my first time back on site since the demolition came to an end last month and it felt like I was somewhere familiar but unfamiliar at the same time. I could see and feel the layout changing, the ground felt different, there were new faces on site, new machinery and the access areas were different and the two-storey cabins were a hive of activity.
I could really get a strong feel for the size of the land and the vastness of the build and the works that have to be done to accommodate the three blocks that will combine to make the final housing development, delivering 111 one, two and three bedroom apartments nestled in private communal landscaped gardens.
Read on to see and find out more…
The first thing you notice is the construction site entrance gates at Nursery Way have been installed and timber hoarding has progressed around the perimeter.
Groundworks have begun, starting with the removal of the tarmac from what was Johnsdale car park and the contractor is continuing to break out the concrete gasholder walls and base. Once all the concrete has been removed from the gasholder it will be processed ready for re-use on site for formation of the piling platforms.
Air quality, noise and vibration monitoring have been set up around the site by external environmental consultants which provides real-time information on the activities being undertaken.
I am finding it fascinating to photograph the building process and enjoy learning so much about it. So pleased I have captured the process from the beginning because I am already finding it hard to remember what it looked like this time last year, if it’s the same for you, you can refer back to my previous 4 blogs that started in January to refresh your memory.
During the course of the next 24 months I intend delivering one blog a month with progress photographs from my site visits - with thanks to Ness from St William for escorting and accommodating me, my cameras and my curiosity on site.
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I’ll be back next month with further updates, watch this space.
Enjoy the bank holiday weekend!
Bye for now.
Stella
To read other previous blogs these can be found on the ‘Featured’ blogs below by using the arrows on the right to scroll through the past 30 blogs.
