Up, up and away as demo work gathers pace at 10 Murray St

IT pays to look up while walking the crane-laden streets of Hobart, with an excavator dangling high in the sky near the waterfront earlier today.

An excavator being lifted to the top of 10 Murray St this morning as demolition work continues. Picture: REBECCA SPRY

IT pays to look up while walking the crane-laden streets of Hobart, with an excavator dangling high in the sky near the waterfront earlier today.

Reader Rebecca Spry sent in this striking image as demolition work gathers pace at 10 Murray St.

The 14-storey concrete building is slowly disappearing floor by floor.

Razing the former state office block is part of the redevelopment of Parliament Square in Salamanca, which will include a public plaza and luxury hotel.

It is the largest demolition in the state’s history, and one of the most controversial.

Site construction manager Barney Phillips told the Mercury earlier this month about 15,000 tonnes of concrete would be crushed and recycled by demolition contractor Hazell Bros in the next few months.

Concrete cutters are on top of the 47m building and materials are being assessed for recycling potential as the demolition is carried out.

Demoltion begins on 10 Murray St, Hobart. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

The removal of towering office block has attracted heated debate, with some arguing it should stay as a fine example of 1960s brutalist architecture. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

Mr Phillips said the lifts had been removed and the lift shaft now formed an internal chute for the removal of the demolished material.

He said scaffolding was being erected around the perimeter of the concrete frame, which would be progressively removed as the concrete frame reduced in height.

“A steel frame has been installed to protect and maintain the sandstone facade of 12 Murray St, which will become the entrance to the Marriott Hotel and the Parliament Square plaza,” Mr Phillips said.

Hazell Bros demolition team is carrying out the work and taking away recyclable materials.

Some materials could be used as road base and metal reinforcement materials would be transported to a steel recycling plant.

Removal of the waterfront building has been a divisive issue for years, with a campaign waged to save the 1960s building.

When the demolition was announced in 2009, a Supreme Court appeal was launched to save the building and an online petition started.

The long-running campaign was on the grounds the building is a landmark example of 20th century “brutalist” architecture, as well as concerns demolition was wasteful.