Shenstone Premium Development: High-Risk Demolition & Site Clearance
A complex site clearance and residential demolition project in the highly desirable area of Shenstone. Tilsley Groundworks safely dismantled an existing dwelling adjacent to a live electric transformer, grubbed out all legacy foundations, and recycled the hardcore to deliver a pristine, level building plateau for a premium property developer.
A complex site clearance and residential demolition project in the highly desirable area of Shenstone. Tilsley Groundworks safely dismantled an existing dwelling adjacent to a live electric transformer, grubbed out all legacy foundations, and recycled the hardcore to deliver a pristine, level building plateau for a premium property developer.
In the high-value residential development sector, acquiring land in a premium location like Shenstone is a significant investment.
Executive Summary
For our developer client, maximizing the return on this 2024 project meant moving from acquisition to active construction as rapidly as possible. However, brownfield sites in established villages often come with complex legacy issues. The site featured an existing residential dwelling that needed to be entirely removed to make way for the new luxury build. The massive complication for the Commercial Director and the site management team was the immediate proximity of a live electrical transformer station located right on the property boundary. Standard "smash and grab" demolition tactics were out of the question; a single miscalculation could result in catastrophic local power outages and severe safety incidents. The client required a Tier 1-capable groundworks partner who could provide absolute assurance, rigorous safety compliance, and the heavy engineering capacity to clear the site efficiently.
For a developer facing high-risk site constraints, fragmented supply chains multiply the danger.
The tilsley Solution
Relying on a separate demolition crew, a third-party haulage firm for the muck-away, and another contractor to grub out the foundations creates communication breakdowns. Tilsley Groundworks provided a single-source solution backed by our core philosophy: we own the fleet, and therefore, we own the schedule.
We deployed our directly employed, CPCS-qualified operatives and our modern Volvo excavators to manage the entire site enablement phase. Because we operate our own heavy haulage transport network, we were able to seamlessly mobilize our plant machinery and orchestrate the immediate cart-away of spoil and recycled materials. This self-reliance allowed us to tightly sequence the internal strip-out, the structural takedown, and the foundation grubbing without a single hour of standing time, all while maintaining an impenetrable safety buffer around the live electrical substation.
The execution of this Shenstone project required surgical precision and was divided into three rigorously managed phases.
Technical Implementation
Phase 1: Soft Strip and Risk Mitigation
Before heavy machinery was introduced, our teams established a strict exclusion zone around the electrical transformer station, governed by a bespoke RAMS protocol. We then commenced a comprehensive internal soft strip of the existing dwelling. This involved removing all non-load-bearing partitions, fixtures, plastics, and timber, stripping the house back to its bare brick shell. By segregating these materials at the source, we ensured clean recycling streams and minimized contaminated waste.
Phase 2: Controlled Structural Demolition
With the shell prepped, we brought in our Stage V Volvo excavators fitted with rotating selector grabs. Instead of traditional wrecking techniques, the house was systematically "deconstructed" top-down. Our operators pulled the structure inward, away from the transformer station, ensuring that no debris could breach the boundary line.
Phase 3: Subterranean Grubbing & Recycling
Clearing the above-ground structure is only half the battle. To ensure the site was truly build-ready, our excavators performed deep sub-surface grubbing to extract all original concrete footings and legacy drainage systems. Rather than paying exorbitant landfill taxes to cart this heavy waste away, we processed and recycled the hardcore and concrete locally. Finally, utilizing our GPS-equipped machinery, we graded and leveled the earthworks, balancing the soil to leave a highly compacted, perfectly tidy site.
The handover of the Shenstone site was a testament to the value of integrated, owned-fleet groundworks.
The Results
The developer was presented with an immaculately leveled, clean site, completely free of the legacy foundations that often delay the piling or trenching of new builds.
Most importantly, the severe risk posed by the live electrical transformer station was neutralized without a single incident, proving Tilsley’s Tier 1 safety credentials. By keeping the transport, demolition, and material recycling entirely in-house, we slashed the client's muck-away costs and accelerated their critical path, allowing the next phase of the luxury residential construction to begin immediately.
