The challenge

A renovation this size is a lot of material in and a lot of waste out, and this apartment had one way to do both.

• Carrying every construction material up from the basement via the staircase
• Taking demolition material and waste back down through the same route
• Coordinating deliveries, demolition, waste removal and trades within the building's access limits
• Renovating two full levels inside an existing apartment building

The build

One route in and out changes how a job has to run. Materials can't arrive faster than they can be carried up from the basement, and demolition can't run ahead of the waste going back down, because an apartment has nowhere to stockpile either.

So deliveries, demolition, waste removal and trades were coordinated around that one staircase, in an order the building could handle.

Across both levels, the electrical and plumbing upgrades went in first, ahead of the new finishes.

The result

Both levels are now new, behind the walls as well as in front of them.

In an apartment building, access limits change how a renovation has to run. They don't have to stop it.