Going, going, gone: Aston University flats bite the dust
[gallery] Going, going, gone – it was an explosive end to high-rise flats which had been home to Birmingham students for generations.
But the skyline near one of the city's busiest routes was transformed within seconds after a tower block was reduced to rubble.
The 21-storey Stafford Tower, off James Watt Queensway, was demolished yesterday morning in a plume of smoke.
The tower block has been knocked down to allow for a new entrance to be built to Aston University. Officials from the university also want to create a five-acre green space at the heart of the campus. This meant that the 1970s concrete tower had to be knocked down leading to the project by Birmingham-based DSM Demolition Ltd.
While the work was carried out an exclusion zone was put in place and 400 students ordered to clear the area watched the action on big screens at Aston's Great Hall. Landmovers and diggers were brought into knock down the neighbouring sports centre and the former Lakeside Conference Centre. DMS contracts manager Billy Young said: "We are proud to have been involved with such a high profile complex demolition on the Aston campus. We look forward to working on the campus in the future as the regeneration of the campus progresses." University officials today thanked Aston staff and students, members of the public and businesses for their patience during the planned works at the site.
The new landscaped area will become part of the Aston Student Village development. The development is going to include a new walkway into the university from the city centre and a pavilion, to be used for teaching and as a catering facility for outdoor events. The new green space is due to be finished by September.
It is the third 1970s tower-block to be demolished at Aston, with the former Dalton and Lawrence Towers razed to the ground in 2011.
These two towers were replaced by new en-suite accommodation for 1,050 students and a number of business units to help encourage investment in the City of Birmingham's Eastside.
More than 3,000 students are now able to stay within the Aston Student Village after work started back in 2010.
