Mount Pleasant Key Enabling Works

The objective of the enabling works at Mount Pleasant is to remodel the Royal Mail operation to facilitate a residential development above the existing basement level parking area. 

The site at Mount Pleasant has undergone many years of change since the first Post Office Building was constructed in 1889 following the demolition of the Coldbath Fields Prison. The Post Office Railway that crossed London from east to west were built in the 1920s beneath Mount Pleasant and was used for the movement and distribution of mail throughout London until the 1920s. Such a complex history will inevitably lead to significant discoveries during the building process which made the Enabling Works project an ideal Construction Management Project.

The enabling works that Blue Sky Building are managing will create a podium upon which a residential development will be constructed in the near future.

The works, which consist of multiple phases, commenced in October 2017. In the first phase a new reception was built in the main office building on Farringdon Road and management and staff facilities were relocated. This was followed by the creation of a new integrated collection facility. The last phase of the internal works is to bring the existing parking into the basement of the new building creating the space outside to construct the new podium. As the podium is built a 150m long 30m span acoustic roof will be erected enclosing the HGV delivery area at ground level shielding the future development from the noise of the 24 hour Royal Mail delivery operation. Access to the site will also be radically remodelled with all vehicles entering through the new podium.

The biggest challenge of the job is without doubt ensuring that the Royal Mail operation is never interrupted even though we are working in a live environment and in areas that will be very busy with vehicle movements and personnel movements. This can only be achieved through building strong working relationships with the key Royal Mail Team with clear and honest two way communication on a daily basis which ensures no surprises.