32 of 34 tower blocks, with the remaining two being refurbished. They were saved from demolition as they were constructed as part of a complex with primary schools and the demolition of the towers would necessitate the demolition of the schools, which the HAT and Birmingham City Council wanted to avoid. To regenerate the shopping area in the centre of the estate, Associated Architects and Gillespies were appointed to produce a masterplan for the site to include new shopping facilities and other community facilities. Demolition and construction Environmental and housing schemes Preparations for the demolition of properties commenced as soon as the masterplan was approved. The first phase of preparations for demolition began in June 1995 when the first four of the "Centre 8" blocks were demolished. The other four blocks in this section were demolished a year later. The four "bison wall" tower blocks - Valiant, Meteor, Hermes and Ensign Houses - were demolished in 1997, along with Albert Shaw House. The decision was then made to demolish Concorde Tower as well as the 14 Farnborough Road tower blocks, which had originally been earmarked for refurbishment. During the clearance process, security were employed to guard the site constantly to protect remaining residents and to prevent looting. All 27 of the maisonette blocks were eventually demolished, including the three which were initially earmarked for refurbishment. All but one of the Farnborough Road tower blocks had been demolished by the end of 2000, with Vulcan House initially being retained as accommodation for doctors and nurses while improvements took place at NHS staff homes near to Heartlands Hospital. However, Vulcan House was significantly under-occupied for this purpose, and it was finally demolished in 2002. Andover, Hercules, Ternhill and Oakington Houses were demolished afterwards. By 2004, all remaining tower blocks, with the exception of Chivenor and Topcliffe House, had been demolished along with the remaining maisonette blocks and an additional 114 bungalows. Both of the surviving tower blocks were incorporated into neighbouring schools, and were earmarked for retention from the outset, as their demolition would have resulted in the need to build replacement schools elsewhere in the local area. Demolition work was conducted by demolition contractors who competed for the various contracts offered by the HAT. The complexity of these contracts led to confusion sometimes between the contractors and the HAT. In one case, between the HAT and Demolition Services Ltd., where Demolition