Windsor tower block demolition: phasing, logistics and design notes for project teams
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Demolition has begun on Winwood, the first of four eight-storey 1960s tower blocks at Sawyers Close, Dedworth, with J Mould using a high-reach demolition excavator to clear the site for Abri’s £176m regeneration. The Hill Group’s The Granges scheme will replace 192 existing flats with 413 new homes, with construction of the first 182 units already under way and initial handovers due in early 2027. Planning approval and additional land from the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead allow phased construction before full demolition of the remaining blocks between 2027 and 2030.
Technical Brief
- J Mould is using a high-reach demolition excavator, implying controlled, top-down deconstruction of the eight-storey block.
- The four existing tower blocks – Winwood, Broadleys, Grasmere and Hale – are all 1960s concrete structures.
- Abri’s total regeneration funding is £176m, of which £34.4m comes from Homes England.
- Additional council-owned land has been transferred to Abri, enlarging the developable footprint beyond the original estate boundary.
- Planning consent from the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead explicitly enables construction to overlap with staged demolition.
- Residents were decanted either into the remaining towers or alternative local housing as each block is emptied.
- The Granges is Abri’s largest regeneration scheme to date, indicating substantial long-term asset renewal on a single estate.
- For similar estates, phased demolition with parallel new-build construction reduces decant pressure and temporary rehousing volumes.
Our Take
The £34.4m Homes England contribution at The Granges is at the upper end of funding figures seen in recent UK Infrastructure coverage, signalling that Windsor & Maidenhead is being treated as a priority regeneration area rather than routine estate infill.
Replacing 192 ageing flats with 413 new homes implies a substantial uplift in density, which will likely drive requirements for upgraded utilities and local road capacity in Dedworth that are not mentioned in most estate renewal schemes in our database.
Phasing demolition of the remaining Winwood, Broadleys, Grasmere and Hale blocks out to 2027–2030 suggests Abri and Hill Group are managing decant and rehousing over multiple cycles, a pattern our coverage shows is increasingly used to minimise temporary accommodation costs and political risk for councils.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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