External Builders Clean
at HMRC Pilgrim’s Quarter Newcastle

Client: Facilities management partner, in support of the principal contractor
Location: Pilgrim’s Quarter, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Scope: External builders clean of facades, frames and glazing, plus internal snagging cleans
Duration: August to December 2025, 105 site visits
Team: IRATA qualified rope access technicians, typically 3 per day, peaking at 9

Challenge

Pilgrim’s Quarter is the largest office development Newcastle city centre has ever seen and will become HMRC’s biggest regional hub in the UK, home to around 9,000 staff. As the building approached practical completion in December 2025, every elevation had to be brought up to handover standard, with construction dust, debris and staining removed from facades, frames and glazing.

The building’s scale and design made this a genuine access challenge. Long elevations of full height glazing, a 130 metre retained historic facade and busy streets and site areas below ruled out mast climbers or extensive scaffolding so late in the programme. The clean also had to deal with heavy bird guano deposits on sections of the frames, which require controlled removal, and it had to fit around a live construction site working towards a fixed completion date.

Solution Design

Think 360 designed a rope access methodology working in vertical drops across each elevation, cleaning frames and glazing in sequenced passes. Trials on the first bays were used to refine the cleaning method and select the right combination of equipment for the frame finish, and the agreed standard was signed off with the principal contractor’s team before full production began.

The programme covered:

• Dusting and degreasing of external frames across all elevations
• External window and glazing cleaning in coordinated drops
• Controlled bird guano removal with full PPE and containment procedures
• Minor facade snagging repairs, filled and finished ready for handover
• Internal snagging cleans and window cleaning to completed floors

Execution (August to December 2025)

Teams worked systematically bay by bay, rigging and re-rigging drops as each section completed. Exclusion barriers were set below every active drop, with work sequenced around other trades finishing the building beneath. Where deposits were heaviest, drops were double handed to keep the programme on schedule, and crew levels flexed up to nine technicians during peak weeks.

Quality was checked drop by drop against the standard agreed at the trial stage, with the contractor’s team invited to inspect completed sections as the clean progressed.

Health, Safety and Compliance

All operatives were site inducted and worked under permit, with rope access systems rigged and checked daily by IRATA supervisors. Guano removal was carried out under controlled conditions with disposable suits, RPE and containment of arisings. Exclusion zones protected the public and site personnel below throughout.

Results

The external envelope was handed over clean and snag free ahead of practical completion in December 2025, with internal snagging cleans completing the scope. The building has since moved into fit out ahead of HMRC’s move in 2027.

For Think 360 the project shows the value of rope access on landmark city centre buildings, delivering a full external builders clean on Newcastle’s largest ever office scheme without scaffolding, mast climbers or road closures.

Builders Cleans and Facade Cleaning at Height

Think 360 delivers external builders cleans, facade cleaning and glazing cleans on commercial developments across the UK, alongside our high level cleaning and building maintenance services. If you have a project approaching handover, contact Think 360 for a free survey.