138 Hydepark Street before work began on the building. Image © 2024 Google
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is not taking any action over the collapse of a building in Glasgow city centre, Construction News can reveal.
No laws or regulations were breached in the incident, according to HSE inspectors who visited the scene in the hours after the four-storey building came down.
The former office at 138 Hydepark Street, the site of a proposed 26-storey student accommodation block, was being prepared for demolition when the structure fell in on 22 January.
Graham is main contractor on the job, while the client is its development arm Graham Investment Projects.
No one was hurt in the incident, which took place around 3.20pm, but the Scottish Sun reported one worker had to sprint out of the building after he started to feel it wobble.
It quoted a witness saying that the structure was not supposed to be demolished for “a while” and the workers were in shock.
A video published by the newspaper shows the broken structure collapsing in front of shocked onlookers.
Yesterday (30 January), an HSE spokesperson confirmed the regulator would take no action over the incident. He said: “Our inspectors visited this site and determined that the collapse was due to a failure that was not foreseeable.”
A photo of the site published by Demolition News last week showed that the demolition contractor on site was Bardem, a specialist based in nearby Paisley.
Graham submitted plans for the £71m student accommodation project to Glasgow City Council in December.
The proposed scheme would see 410 purpose-built student accommodation bedspaces split across 236 studios and 174 cluster flats.
Permission has not yet been granted, with the company stating in a press release last year that it expected a decision to be made in the spring.
Bardem declined to comment. Graham has been contacted for comment.
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Ian Weinfass