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Camden Council discovers new work needed to make Chalcots Estate safe

Camden Council has discovered that further work is needed on the exterior of five tower blocks on its Chalcots Estate to make them safe.

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Cladding being removed from a tower on the Chalcots Estate
Cladding being removed from a tower on the Chalcots Estate
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Camden discovers new work needed to make Chalcots Estate safe #ukhousing

Further safety issues uncovered on Chalcots Estate #ukhousing

Curtain wall and window system issues found on north London estate #ukhousing

The Swiss Cottage estate was found to have major fire safety flaws in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June last year, leading to residents from all five blocks being evacuated.

It was clad in aluminium composite material panels with a flammable polyethylene core – similar to the system used at Grenfell.

The cladding has now been removed, but engineers investigating the outside of the buildings have uncovered issues with their curtain walls and windows.

An officer’s report due to go before the authority’s cabinet on Wednesday recommends that the blocks’ curtain walls and windows are replaced to make the buildings safe.

The curtain wall is the metal structure attached to the building’s concrete that contains the windows and the insulation panels below the windows.

If the work goes ahead it will double the cost of facade remedial work on the estate to between £50m and £56m – bringing the total spend on fire safety in the borough since Grenfell to more than £100m.


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The officer’s report notes that “workmanship within the curtain wall assembly is variable”, meaning it does not comply with building regulations on various counts.

It says that window hinges on the buildings have failed seven times in the past five years and that in some cases this has resulted in total failure of the opening sash, with “windows falling from height”.

New curtain walls and windows would be higher quality and improve thermal insulation, the report adds.

A replacement window system would last for an estimated 40 years, while repair work would only extend the current system’s life for another 10, despite costing only slightly less.

The council also plans to install solid aluminium panels on the estate’s five towers.

It hopes for the curtain walls and windows to be replaced through the same contract as the new cladding installation work.

The contract is set to go out for tender by the end of March, procured through the Fusion 21 fire safety framework.

The work is due to be completed in August 2019, with residents able to stay in their homes.

Camden has not yet reached a final decision on how it will pay for the work, and is still exploring the possibility of recovering part of the bill from the contractor responsible for refurbishment which saw the cladding installed.

The officer’s report adds that the council “is exploring the possibility of an increase in its [Housing Revenue Account] debt cap”.

Estimated cladding replacement costs have risen from £3m to £25m “to ensure there is the appropriate level of insulation and fire stopping”.

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