Daltons Demolitions were appointed by Morrison Construction to undertake the major demolition and site clearance package at the former Galashiels Academy as part of the wider community campus redevelopment for Scottish Borders Council.
The works involved the phased demolition of a substantial group of interconnected school buildings, including multi-storey teaching accommodation, the former swimming pool, games hall, kitchen areas, link corridors, the Annexe and associated ancillary structures.
A major element of the project was the extensive asbestos removal programme required ahead of demolition. The works incorporated both internal and external asbestos-containing materials across several buildings. These included asbestos insulating board (AIB) infill panels concealed behind metal casings to structural beams and columns, together with AIB debris and contamination within ceiling voids. The Annexe survey also identified asbestos cement ceiling panels, asbestos-containing vinyl floor tiles and adhesives, bituminous products beneath floor coverings and asbestos cement pipework.
All licensed asbestos removal works were undertaken by a licensed asbestos removal contractor appointed by Daltons Demolitions, with Daltons managing and coordinating the specialist asbestos works as part of the overall demolition programme. This ensured that the licensed removal activities, clearance procedures and subsequent demolition phases were fully integrated with the wider project sequencing.
The Annexe contained particularly complex asbestos installations, including AIB panels concealed within the structural column construction and contamination around structural members. These areas required controlled enclosure working, environmental monitoring and formal four-stage clearance procedures before the affected areas could be released for demolition.
Extensive asbestos-containing roofing materials were also removed. On the four-storey building alone, approximately 1,275m² of high-level asbestos roof felt was dealt with, together with approximately 771m² of lower-level felt, with machine assistance used where appropriate. Other buildings incorporated asbestos cement roof panels, gutters and flashings, along with asbestos-containing bituminous roofing materials.
The project also required careful coordination with the site’s bat mitigation programme. Demolition activities were sequenced around the agreed environmental requirements, with specific areas programmed for completion in advance of the mitigation works. This required close coordination between Daltons, Morrison Construction and the project environmental team to ensure demolition progress was maintained while protecting identified ecological constraints.
Following completion and certification of the asbestos-removal phases, the buildings were progressively soft-stripped and demolished using specialist demolition excavators. The sequencing of the works allowed individual buildings and areas to be cleared and handed over in stages without unnecessarily delaying the wider construction programme.
The project also incorporated the removal of approximately 160 roof-mounted photovoltaic panels prior to demolition, requiring additional planning and controlled dismantling before the associated roof structures could be reduced.
Concrete, masonry and other suitable demolition arisings were processed and segregated on site, while structural steel and other recyclable materials were separated into dedicated waste streams to maximise material recovery and minimise disposal.
The scale and complexity of Galashiels Academy demonstrates Daltons’ ability to manage large, multi-building demolition projects incorporating licensed asbestos removal by specialist appointed subcontractors, high-level asbestos roofing works, concealed AIB, asbestos cement products, ecological mitigation and extensive material recovery, while coordinating specialist contractors, environmental requirements and the wider construction programme.
