Sustainable regeneration of former Mackies site, Belfast

Waste minimisation, recycling and environmental protection are becoming increasingly important in today's construction industry. Facilities for waste disposal have limited capacity and the availability of natural resources is depleting. This paper considers the sustainable redevelopment of a brown field industrial site and identifies significant cost savings to the client during design development and construction. Techniques adopted during the construction phase of the scheme included the on-site crushing of existing concrete structures for reuse and the bioremediation of oil-contaminated soils in windrows. Soils containing heavy metals were contained on site and groundwater contaminated with solvents was treated on site. The treatment and reuse of materials on site proved very successful and also reduced the requirement for waste disposal to landfill. The wildlife environment of the area was maintained and enhanced with the retention of a main badger sett within the site boundary, the creation of landscaped areas and control of Japanese knotweed. The project is being assessed for a CEEQUAL (Civil Engineering Environmental Quality) Whole Project Award.