Demolition Woollahra: Terraces, Party Walls and Conservation Streets

Conservation areas and attached-terrace demolition

A Woollahra demolition is assessed by Woollahra Municipal Council under the Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 2014 and the council’s development control plan. Two things define the work. First, heritage conservation areas cover much of the suburb, so a demolition, even a partial internal one, is assessed for its effect on the area’s character, which means a development application and heritage-conscious methods rather than a fast-tracked pathway. Second, Woollahra’s terraces are attached dwellings: demolishing within one means protecting the shared party walls and the structural integrity of the neighbours left standing on either side. That is a demolition discipline in itself, and it is where experience shows.

We plan attached-terrace and conservation-area demolition around the party walls and the streetscape, with the sequencing, propping and protection worked out before we start. Naming the council is the easy part; safely taking apart one terrace in a joined row, inside a conservation area, is the actual job, and it is what we do here.

The work we do in Woollahra

• Partial and internal demolition within terraces and attached dwellings
• Selective and hand-demolition in heritage conservation areas
• Structural demolition for heritage-sensitive renovations
• Rear, garage and outbuilding removal
• Site clearing and controlled removal on tight terrace blocks

On attached, tight or heritage-sensitive sites we use hand-demolition and non-destructive digging where machinery cannot safely reach, and we notify neighbours before we begin.