On Sunday 22 June former Newcastle United and England manager, Sir Bobby Robson, pressed the button to detonate the explosive charges that brought down the old Newcastle Brown brewery building.  

The designed collapse mechanism focused around the columns in the centre of the building being destroyed first and then the floor slabs, with their vertical support gone, sagging like a heavy net and pulling the sides of the building into the centre. However, this was complicated by the long-span barrel vault roof which provided the top floor with a virtually column free space. The four vaults were supported on 2m deep post-tensioned beams each spanning 40m.  

Selected internal columns were detonated in a delayed sequence that forced one end of the roof to hinge at the external face and drop into the centre of the building footprint. This collapse mechanism was essential to avoid structural damage to the flats and offices that were built only 10m away from the Brewery.  

The video of the demolition will be available on our website shortly and can currently be viewed by clicking the following link.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ktG5UXsoBXk