Alewife Park

Alewife Park

Mixed Use: Lab/ Office/ Retail

Partnering directly with the Developer, Unified’s expansive demolition and environmental remediation scope helped transform an existing office park into Cambridge’s newest and most sought-after, mixed-use lab and office space development featuring new buildings, a parking garage and updated community space.

Overview

The existing Alewife Park compound was composed of 14 buildings spanning over a 755,000 square foot landscape. Unified’s crews mobilized consistently beginning in May of 2022 through Summer of 2024 to complete both interior and exterior demolition and abatement as well as a soil remediation contract and a structural demolition subcontract. Located within an active residential neighborhood, an additional layer of systemic care was added to the project. However, through strategic planning, coordination and communication, the project was made a success for both Unified, our trade partners and our client.

Location
Whittemore Ave, Cambridge

Owner
IQHQ & AECOM Tishman

Contract Value
$13M+

Project Team
Project Executive: Greg Faria

Project Managers:

Mike Newman

Sam Conley

Marcus Dube
Project Supervisor: Mike Faria

Foreman: Kaylon Lopes (Demolition)

Foreman: Chris Shute (Abatement)

Self Perform Scope

Abrasive Blasting
Floor Grinding
Staging & Shoring
Large Scale Containment
Saw Cutting
ACM Remediation
Debris Management

Subcontractors:

Crane: CJ Shaughnessy

Electrical: Gaston Electric

Staging: Commonwealth Scaffold

Interior Abatement & Demolition

After completing a meticulous make safe process and a cap cut plan- domestic water, sewage lines, life safety implements and electrical vaults- Unified's Environmental Division crews began to tackle the interior asbestos abatement throughout the 14 existing buildings. Due to the complex's history as headquarters for a materials technology firm specializing in building products, there was a need for selective remediation throughout, achieved via methods of sand blasting and floor grinding with the implementation of several containments.

After the remediation work was finished throughout all buildings, our demolition crews came in to work on the two buildings that were to remain- Building 1 and Building 2. The removal of the remaining interior finishes completed the full gut, leaving just the steel structures behind.

Interior views of the buildings after a full gut is nearly completed (above). Environmental division completing sand blasting of the streel beams (below).

Exterior Demolition & Abatement

After interior demolition was completed, our scope moved up to the roof top of Building 2 to remove 1,000 linear feet of oversized duct work and 6 roof top units and their associated mechanical systems via crane pick- subcontracted by CJ Schaunessy. The entirety of the rooftop demo was completed with caution of the warrantied roof which was to remain.

Our scope included the removal of a multi-layer façade of faux brick, clay brick, CMU and terracotta walls off of Building 2. This work required staging to be installed along three sides of the building. Upon discovery of contaminated material along one of the facades, a non-traditional work plan was developed by out Safety & Environmental Teams and approval for a high reach excavator was granted. Alongside our trade partners at JDC Demolition, we were able to continue this work while abiding by all environmental guidelines. Being sensitive to the neighborhood communities, large curtesy curtains were installed to lessen their impact of the construction process.

Structural Demolition

In conjunction with subcontractor JDC Demolition, we tackled the structural demolition of 12 of the 14 existing buildings. Working closely together our partnership was able to achieve a seamless operation of takin down the building structures using heavy equipment and hauling the debris away.

Under our direct contract, we create large structural openings using our in-house saw cutting operators and equipment.

Large Scale Containment Design & Soil Remediation

In collaboration with IQHQ, Tishman AECOM and project designer Woodard & Curran, Unified designed, developed and erected large containment tents to execute our soil remediation scope. The tents were 200’ x 100’ x 45’ that allowed our subcontractor, JDC Demolition to excavate the soil. Unified provided full construction containment, custom built decontamination trailers and monitored environmental controls to maintain negative air pressure.

Excavation inside of the containment tents for the soil remediation