Demolition is not the first word on most people’s minds when it comes to Defence. But in an industry of evolution, sometimes the old needs to be demolished to usher in the new.
Mann is an Australian demolition company which believes they have ample services to offer Defence.
For one, the company has previous experience in the Defence sector, having worked on a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base decommissioning where RAAF Base Williamtown’s airfield was decommissioned.
Mann has also worked on RAAF Base Richmond, as well as Holsworthy and Singleton.
Established in Sydney in the 1950s, Mann has worked on multiple major projects across the nation, including a Woolworths distribution centre, a boiler house, a bushfire recovery project and Seafarers.
“We aim to deliver high quality, safe and sustainable projects across the industrial, urban, defence, health and marine sectors,” Mann Director Anthony Manassa said.
Mann has offices in both Auburn, NSW, and Clayton, Victoria. Beyond those, Mann is also looking to further expand the business.
“We would love to continue working within the defence space. Working on offshore rigs, decommissioning PFAS / PFOS and ASS/PASS decontamination works, asbestos contaminated soil along with hazardous and restricted waste, we would love to do some more of that. Take our expertise through those sectors,” Manassa stated.
“In terms of what we can deliver, we’re an award-winning demolition contractor. We strive for sustainability and safe delivery of projects. We’ve won the World Demolition Awards on two projects within the last four years.”
The two awards the company has won include a World Demolition Award in 2021 for Urban Demolition under $10 million and Best Collaboration in Demolition Award at the 2025 World Demolition Summit.
The first was won for the Malt District project where Mann demolished silos adjacent to a freeway in Victoria.
The second was for the company’s work on Chifley South Tower where they were contracted by Built to demolish and deconstruct a building adjacent from a 43-storey tower that had to remain “live”.
The demolition site adjacent to the tower was a six-storey building that also possessed four basements and floor to ceiling heights of 6 metres, which is double the standard height.
“Now we had to work with Built and service trades basically to isolate, decommission and rerun all the services, ensuring that nothing was affected in the 43-storey tower,” Manassa highlighted.
Mann operates a fleet of specialised equipment which ensures that its customers do not need to worry about outsourcing the necessary tools for demolition when the company is contracted to them.
This means that if Defence ever contracted the company, then Mann could provide the equipment needed.
“What sets us apart from our competitors is our commitment to safety, sustainability and excellence in service and project delivery,” he said.
“We maximise our waste diversion from landfill and aim for 100 per cent recyclability on all non-hazardous materials.”
According to Mann, the company possesses an average recycling percentage of 98 per cent. For perspective, the industry standard is 90 per cent.
This complements Defence’s initiatives, such as the Defence Environmental Strategy 2016-2036, which has five strategies that aim for sustainability.
One such strategy is to “Deliver a sustainable estate across Defence maritime, land and aerospace areas, activities and operations.”
Among the materials recycled by the company on its worksites are steel, copper, glass and domestic pipework, all construction materials that could potentially be found on Defence bases.
Currently, Mann has ongoing projects over the country and has also recently completed a couple.
“We recently completed a project called the Sydney Metro Eastern Tunnelling package which was one of Australia’s largest ever demolitions awarded under a contract,” Manassa explained.
“That was basically delivering the hazmat removal and total demolition of approximately 15 high-rise buildings.”