Pitcher & Piano
Project: New Windows Instillation
Location: Regatta Quay, Ipswich
Client: Stoneguard and City Living
Pitcher & Piano
The redundant, wet dock in Ipswich is undergoing a major face lift to the maltings, grain stores and ancillary buildings giving way to residential apartments. There is provision for new commercial properties including restaurants, bars, hotels and a dance studio ensuring the area becomes a central part of the redevelopment of Ipswich.
Drill Masters Ltd was tasked with altering one of these old malting building that’s part of the £79M development, Regatta Quay to accommodate a new bar. The maltings consisted of a 3m high 330mm thick concrete wall. A number of openings were required in the wall to accommodate new windows and doors to increase the light in the building and give the patrons access to the terraced area. The openings were 1800 x 2700mm and designed to house glazed windows and doors. Each section of reinforced wall to be removed had a total weight in excess of 4.5 Tonnes. To aid removal Drill Masters designed a system that divided each opening into six equal blocks weighing three-quarters Tonne each. The cutting was performed with a variety of hydraulic specialist cutting tools which can not only cut heavily reinforced flint concrete but can cope with the significant depth of 330mm. Once each block was freed a modified fork truck was utilised for removal.
To cut and remove all 36 blocks for the 6 openings was achieved on target enabling other trades to face the openings and fit the new windows and doors before the site was handed over for fit out and the end customer the Pitcher and Piano.
