A class of local school children described the demolition of the Lenton flats in Nottingham as “a dinosaur bringing down a big old giant”.
As you watch the crane spring into life and start to nibble away at the walls of the fifty-year-old structure, you can see what they mean.
The first video of the demolition of Lenton Court is now available to view on the Building a Better Nottingham website: Building a Better Nottingham - Lenton demolition.
It has been produced by Nottingham-based family company Inside Out Time Lapse Productions whose previous time lapse films include the construction of the new tram bridge at the Queen’s Medical Centre, the bridge slide at Nottingham Railway Station, and the new rail bridge over the A46.
The company has been working alongside Nottingham City Council and Nottingham City Homes to capture the transformation of Lenton and Radford.
Anthony Slater-Davision, Regeneration Manager at Nottingham City Homes, said: “We wanted to make sure we documented such a huge change in the Nottingham skyline, and the transformation of a local community.
“It was really important to us that we worked with a local company, as is always our aim when we are working on any of these projects.”
Inside Out captured the footage using Time lapse cameras, taking images every two minutes, as well as the more in depth shots using state-of-the-art equipment planted within the building and strapped to the machine itself.
Company director, Donna Bickley, said: “We wanted to not only capture the change in the local environment, but show the real close up footage of the demolition itself. I think it’s particularly poignant as you see the wallpapered walls being nibbled away by the high-reach machine. This is footage people don’t normally get to see.”
The demolition of Lenton Court was carried out by Hucknall-based Total Reclaims, a local family company that has already carried out the demolition of Highcross, Clifford and Highhurst Courts in Radford. They are now working on the final stage of demolition for Digby Court in Lenton, and will start on Abbey Court in the coming weeks.
Richard Taylor, Director at Total Reclaims, said: “When you’re working on projects like this every day the change is so gradual, you don’t always appreciate what a huge feat it is.
“It’s great to see our work in time lapse, to watch what a difference our teams actually make. It’s also interesting to see the high-reach machine in action. This piece of equipment takes a great deal of skill to operate, the operator in that cab is a long way away from the work he is doing, but he has to be so precise.”
