With the aid of this stitched together photo scene (above) an Openreach engineer takes us back to the time when the building was enclosed and still a complete structure. The letters A to W refer to points on the photo and descriptions (below).
A - This is the pit beneath the goods lift which had the following buttons inside:
SF2 - SF1 - LG - UGS - UGN - 1st - 2nd - 3rd - 4th - 5th - 6th - 7th - 8th
B - Adjacent to the goods lift were the 4 main passenger lifts (only two shown in photo, the others are out of shot) all of which contained the following buttons:
Lobby - SF1 - LG - UG - 1st - 2nd - 3rd - 4th - 5th - 6th - 7th
As far as I can remember the announcement in the lift was:
'Lobby, access to squash court.'
'First floor, exit to pedestrian bridge.'
All of the other floors were uninteresting! From the Lobby, there was a final flight of stairs down to the Squash court on SF2.
C - Unknown pit.
D - This is where the Firemans' lift and associated staircase were located. SF2 - SF1 - LG - UG - 1st - 2nd - 3rd - 4th - 5th - 6th - 7th There was also a very small kitchen lift which ran between the LG and 7th floors only. It is believed that this was directly adjacent to the Firemans' lift.
E - In Sub Floor 2 there was a Squash court. It was located directly beneath the ramped part of the loading bay area. There was no SF1 at this location, just a BIG space below the loading bay ramp. [Note the height between SF2 and SF1 in relation to the size of the workmen in the photo!]
F - At the top of the loading bay ramp (above the squash court) was where the fork lift truck was parked. The letter "F" denoting the exact location of the charging unit.
G - SubFloor 2 contained a mini-power station. Four diesel generators were located in positions G1 - G2, the latter two being hidden in the photo and ran alongside the two shown. The exact location for these was further back than the letters show and the 1 to 4 may even be one further place to the right.
M--M - Shows the approximate location of the two large jumpering frames that resided along the river wall of LG.
O - The generators were fuelled by two very large diesel storage tanks. Note the extra thick supporting pillars still in place.
Access to the small car park was made via the "Ramp to car park". This ran from the centre of the loading bay up to the edge line denoted by W--W. Beyond this line was the courtyard of the Fire station. The car park was approximately the same level as LG, thus this floor was slightly narrower.
W--W - This line runs along the wall at the edge of the fire station courtyard. At the top of the ramp to the car park a sliding gate provided access between the two. It was always locked.
The strange configuration of floors in the goods lift around UG-north and UG-south was caused by the extended height in the loading bay area which made the two ends of the goods lift for UG different levels. UG-south being about 6 foot higher than UG-north. The kitchen lift, whilst only running between LG and 7th, did have an access point on the 5th floor. Behind a locked door were two small doors (similar to some exchange double doors that swing open, but smaller in height and width). Behind these doors was the lift shaft itself. Scary looking down that one...!
The Closure Programme
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"My involvement in Mondial was quite limited, being part of the building closure programme and doing my bit to help empty it out between 2001 and right up to hand-over to the new owner in late 2006. Retrospectively now, I wish I had taken more photos during my stay there, but here are just a few that feature a little of the recovery work..." |
Page last updated June 2015 revision. Checked May 2021.
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