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Was there a specific challenge that caused
you concern about how it meshed?
JB: We used quite a robust, design typology so that
wasn’t the challenge. There’s always the micro-detail
to deal with. The real challenge was the building
methodology because we were filming with up to
100 plus people working inside at once, when we’re
basically chopping up the middle of the building at
the same time. Then there’s retro-engineering every
slab, to make sure it holds up with penetrations
everywhere.
It must be difficult to manage such complex
sequences?
JB: The logistics were quite insane. The light-bulb
moment came when we decided to quarantine the
whole centre of the building. Until that occurred,
trades people couldn’t get access because there
was such heavy machinery there. You can just
imagine the difficulty in removing large slabs of
concrete from the building that is two floors high.
It was quite horrific until that light-bulb moment.
Then it became quite a smooth process.
While recycling old buildings might make plenty
of sustainable sense, they can also be a nightmare
to bring up to current performance standards.
Isn’t it like taking a vintage car and retro-fitting
it to perform like a new one?
JB: Probably not so much any more, because an
old building hasn’t all the services, but the bones
of the structure can be quite adequate. So to use
the car analogy, it’s like taking an old car, throwing
the engine out, putting a new engine in and then
driving off. You’re not really relying on anything that
was used in the past, other than say, the structure,
so everything’s new inside the old building. I look
at it as almost like my grandfather’s favourite axe
analogy, where he’s had his axe for 30 years but
it’s had five new handles and three new heads,
but it’s still his favourite axe.