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Slingsby Place, Covent Garden — Structural Redevelopment

Strip-out and structural works behind retained façades in the heart of Covent Garden — a complex central-London build with tower-crane installation, tight logistics and neighbours on every side.

Slingsby Place, Covent Garden Restaurant
Full internal demolition
Strip-out
New slabs & foundations
Structural
Covent Garden, London
WC2
Retained throughout
Façades

Slingsby Place sits within The Yards, the pedestrian courtyards between Long Acre and St Martin's Lane in Covent Garden. The project took an existing building back to its shell — a full internal strip-out and demolition, structural works behind retained façades and a new base for the next phase of the build — on one of the tightest sites in central London. The works were led by Martin Hickey, now Craftex's Preconstruction Director, as Project Director from start to finish.

Project Overview

A complex central-London redevelopment within The Yards, Covent Garden: strip-out, demolition and structural works behind retained façades, delivered with tower-crane installation and tightly controlled logistics, all coordinated through a single point of accountability.

A building rebuilt from the inside out.

The historic street and courtyard elevations were held by a full-height temporary works and scaffold system while floors and internal structure were removed level by level. New slabs and foundations were then formed at the base of the building, and a tower crane was erected inside the footprint to carry the next phase of the build.

Structural works, single point of control.

Every façade stayed in place while everything behind it was taken out. Demolition, temporary works, structural works and crane operations ran as one programme under one accountable team — no gaps between packages, one sequence, one number to call. On a site with neighbours on every side, that control is what kept the work safe and on track.

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How It Works

Plan. Build. Deliver.

  1. Step One

    Preconstruction & Planning

    • Logistics, crane lifts and road closures agreed with the local authority
    • Demolition sequence and programme set floor by floor
    • Temporary works design for façade retention signed off before demolition
    • Structural surveys of the existing building and façades
  2. Step Two

    The Works

    • Tower crane erected inside the footprint, lifted in from the street
    • New slabs and foundations formed at the base of the building
    • Propping, edge protection and access scaffolds at every level
    • Soft strip and floor-by-floor demolition behind retained façades
  3. Step Three

    Handover

    • Neighbours, shops and restaurants kept open around the site
    • Façades retained and protected throughout.
    • Single point of contact throughout — one programme, no interface risk
    • Stable, supported shell ready for the new structure

Keeping the façades standing

The street and courtyard elevations had to stay exactly where they were. Before any demolition, the façades were surveyed and a full-height temporary works system was designed and installed to hold them. Demolition was then sequenced floor by floor, so the retained walls were supported at every stage and never left standing on their own.

Planning the build on a live street

Covent Garden gives a construction site almost no room for error: pedestrian courtyards, strict delivery windows and neighbours on every wall. Before work started we completed a full pre-construction phase — surveys of the existing structure, a demolition sequence, a temporary works design and a logistics plan agreed with the local authority — so every delivery and every lift was planned in advance.

Executing the structural works

On site the work ran as a tightly managed sequence: soft strip, demolition of floors and internal structure, propping and edge protection at every level, then new slabs and foundations at the base of the building. A tower crane was erected inside the footprint, its mast and jib lifted in by a mobile crane working from the street under a planned closure.

The result

The building was taken safely back to a stable, supported shell with its façades intact and a new structural base in place, ready for the new building to rise. The same preconstruction discipline — structure, logistics and programme planned before work starts — now shapes every Craftex project.

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Planning a Complex Build in Central London?

See how Craftex approaches structural works, façade retention and tight central-London logistics — and talk to the team that plans them before work starts.

Challenges & Solutions

Every central-London structural project has its constraints. Here's how this one was solved.

Challenges

Solutions

  1. 01

    Restricted central-London access

    The site sat among pedestrian courtyards with no laydown area, narrow approaches and strict delivery windows, making logistics one of the hardest parts of the job.

    Window-timed logistics

    Deliveries were scheduled to permitted hours and called off just in time, so the site never stalled waiting on access.

  2. 02

    Façades that had to stay

    The historic street and courtyard elevations had to remain standing while everything behind them was removed.

    Temporary works first

    A full-height temporary works and scaffold system held the façades before demolition started and stayed until the new structure could take over.

  3. 03

    Neighbours on every side

    Shops, restaurants and offices around the site stayed open, so noise, dust and access had to be controlled every day.

    Controlled demolition

    Floor-by-floor sequencing, dust and noise control and protected routes kept neighbours and the public safe throughout.

  4. 04

    Heavy lifts in a busy street

    The tower crane's mast and jib had to be lifted in from the street, past traffic and pedestrians.

    Planned crane operations

    The mobile crane worked under a planned road closure with traffic marshals and pedestrian management in place.

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