Work has commenced to demolish the 13-storey St Nicholas House tower in Aberdeen.

Scaffolding is being erected around the chimney on top of the 1960s building. It is due to be dismantled by hand, before machines are brought in to demolish the rest.

The machinery – four Brokks and a Bobcat – will be hoisted up the side of the building and used to take the building down floor by floor, from the top down.

Each floor will be propped up, before the machines are used to demolish each level by "nibbling" the concrete. It will then drop the material down the lift shaft in a controlled manner before supporting columns are pulled down and the operation will move to the next floor.


It will take approximately two weeks to take down each floor.

In a statement by the local authority, Deputy Council Leader Marie Boulton said: "This is a historic moment for Aberdeen. Love it or loathe it, the St Nicholas House tower has been a prominent feature of the city's skyline for almost 50 years. Over the coming weeks we will see it steadily reduced until nothing remains of the monolithic building.

"I am pleased to see the demolition project progressing so well and the site being cleared in readiness for an exciting new development and a new chapter in the city's history."

Project Manager, Andrew Sproull, added: "The demolition of St Nicholas House is a major project and involves effectively deconstructing the building. The work presents challenges because the building is in such a constrained site in the middle of a busy city centre, which is why we have opted to take the tower down floor by floor in a very safe and controlled manner. "Safedem will work on the floors in an agreed pattern of demolition by bringing one floor down onto another floor, clearing the material and then pulling down the supporting columns before moving down to the next floor."

The demolition is expected to be completed in spring 2014.

(JP/CD)