Designed by Felix Taverner in 1950, Chifley Square is a landmark site in Sydney’s CBD. RM Watson was awarded the remedial contract for Chifley Square with the brief to restore the post-war, international architectural style that secured the site its status of historical and aesthetic significance.
Works delivered across the project included the replacement of the blue green tint glass and enamalised steel spandrel panels and glazing, safe removal and disposal of asbestos sealant and glazing putty, the replacement of cracked sandstone and the redressing and cleaning of weathered stone.
All glazing and façade mastic at 1 Chifley was contaminated with asbestos. Traditionally, a project with this level of asbestos removal would be carried out via a fixed scaffold. This was not an option at Chifley as there were no areas where a scaffold could have been tied into the structure without carrying out asbestos removal during the scaffold erection. RM Watson in conjunction with our Class A asbestos removal contractor developed a methodology to safely remove the asbestos at night using swinging stage access.
The use of encapsulated swing stages across the facade enabled the safe removal of asbestos materials across the curtain wall façade. As this work was undertaken on a fully occupied commercial building, air monitoring was carried out both internally and externally with a clearance certificate issued each morning at 6.00am to allow tenants safe access to their work spaces.
Spandrel removal works were completed at night to allow for the install of new spandrels during the day, this significantly reduced the programme duration, and mitigated the risk associated with water ingress of the exposed facade elements.
