Brighton & Hove City Council

Transcription

1 Albion Hill Estate John Street Brighton BN2 9PJ Feasibility Report Date : 17 August 2015 Ref : 1436 Revision : One

2 Copyright This report is the copyright of pod LLP. Any unauthorised reproduction or usage by any person other than the addressee is strictly prohibited. Limitation This report has been produced by pod LLP for the sole use of Brighton & Hove City Council in accordance with the commission and brief of this project. No other warranty, expressed or implied, is made as to the professional advice included in this report or any other services provided by us. This report may not be used or relied upon by any other party without the prior and express written agreement of pod LLP. The external survey in order to compile this report was carried out on specific balconies where access was possible. A further detailed survey of the building will need to take place once an access scaffold has been erected. pod LLP August 2015 P a g e i

3 Report Details Carried out at: Prepared by: Prepared for: Albion Hill Estate John Street Brighton BN2 9PJ Stuart Buckley BSc (Hons) MRICS pod LLP Unit 313 Metal Box Factory 30 Great Guildford Street London SE1 0HS Ms Theresa Youngman Brighton & Hove City Council 1 st Floor Brighton & Hove Housing Centre Unit 1 Fairway Trading Estate Eastergate Road Brighton BN2 4QL pod LLP August 2015 P a g e ii

4 Contents 1. Introduction General Condition of the Balconies Recommendations Conclusion...4 Appendices: Appendix A Photographs Appendix B Balcony Fixing Details pod LLP August 2015 P a g e 1

5 1. Introduction Pod LLP were appointed to survey and provide a feasibility report on defects which had been noted to the balconies to seven of the blocks forming the Albion Hill Estate. The buildings affected by the defective balconies consist of the following:- 1. Courtlands 2. Ecclesden 3. Highleigh 4. Normanhurst 5. Richmond Heights 6. Thornsdale 7. Saxonbury The purpose of the report is to identify the defects to the balconies and to make recommendations on the level of repairs required to bring the balconies to a good and usable standard of repair. Detailed Brief The client s detailed brief requested that the following information be provided: i. Survey a sample of the balconies and to ascertain the existing defects. ii. Survey Make recommendations on the repairs required to bring the balcony to a good and usable state of repair. iii. Provide basic details to support the recommendations. The survey was carried out on Monday the 27 th July The weather at the time of survey was sunny and dry. The survey was carried out by Jason Paine BSc (Hons) MRICS for and on behalf of Pod LLP. A further opening up exercise was carried out by Mears on the 4 th August 2015 to ascertain the condition of the structure surrounding the fixings of the balcony. Construction of the blocks on the Albion Hill Estate The seven building which are affected by the defective balconies are all of similar construction. The buildings themselves are ten storeys mid-rise blocks of flats with flat roofs and projecting external balconies. The construction of the buildings being traditional concrete frame construction with the external walls formed of external brickwork and internal blockwork spanning between each floor slab. Each building has a flat roof and windows are double glazed UPVC units. The balconies are constructed with a cantilevered reinforced concrete case supported from the floor slab. The railings are formed of a metal steel frame with a finished panel. The railings are built into the structure of the building either at the concrete deck or the brick side walls. pod LLP August 2015 P a g e 2

6 2. General Condition of the Balconies General Historically the railings have been adapted since the original installation. We are advised that the original balcony panels were formed of a Georgian wired glass panel which had incorporated air gaps to provide some equalisation of pressure to alleviate the effects of wind loading on the balconies. During the great storm of the 18/19 October 1987 the original balcony panels were badly damaged with many of the balcony panels being destroyed. The council decided to replace the glazed balcony panels with fixed steel panel which has been secured to the face of the existing balcony railing steel frame. The balconies have various defects mostly surrounding the corrosion of the metal elements, by far the worse being the corrosion as the point where the balconies railings are attached to the structure of the main building (see attached photographs in appendix A). The fixing points have corroded to the point where real concern existed over whether the balcony was structurally safe and that the balcony railings could in fact become detached from the buildings. Attached in appendix A is a series of photographs demonstrating the range of defects existing. Since identification of the scale and seriousness of the defects Mears have erected scaffolding to provide protection against a catastrophic failure of the balconies. 3. Recommendations The balcony railings are deemed at the end of their useful life and therefore beyond economic repair. The concrete slabs themselves do have some defects, however, these are felt to be repairable (see below) The recommendation therefore is the wholesale replacement of the balcony railings and with a new façade of Trespa panels to match the existing and current balcony finish. As part of this process significant concrete repairs were noted especially where the balcony fixing points had corroded. Given this a full concrete repair system is recommended in combination with the replacement balcony railings. Some masonry repairs will also need to take place at the junction where the handrails were fixed to the buildings. pod LLP August 2015 P a g e 3

7 4. Conclusion We can confirm that the structure of the balcony railings and in particular the fixing points to the buildings have deteriorated to the point where there is real concern that the balconies fixings could fail. Given this scenario the only real course of action is the wholesale replacement of the balcony railings. We also conclude that some repairs will need to take place to both the concrete balcony slab and the masonry walls in the vicinity of the railing fixing points. We have included in Appendix B suggested fixing details, including calculations and assumptions, for the new railings. Signed: Stuart Buckley Bsc (Hons) MRICS For and on behalf of pod LLP Date: 17 th August 2015 pod LLP August 2015 P a g e 4

8 Appendix A Photographs pod LLP August 2015 P a g e 5

9 Brighton & Hove City Council Photo 1 Typical Albion Hill block of flats. pod LLP August 2015 P a g e 6

10 Brighton & Hove City Council Photo Two Corrosion noted around the railing fixing point into the balcony slab. Photo Three Opening up to the concrete surrounding the balcony fixing into the balcony slab. pod LLP August 2015 P a g e 7

11 Brighton & Hove City Council Photo Four Corrosion at fixing point between handrail and brickwork. Photo Five General corrosion to the structural elements of the balcony railing. pod LLP August 2015 P a g e 8

12 Brighton & Hove City Council Photo Six External façade panels to the balconies. pod LLP August 2015 P a g e 9

13 Photo Seven Concrete repairs and cracking following corrosion of the balcony fixings Photo Eight Concrete spalling to the base of the balcony floor slab adjacent to the balcony fixings. pod LLP August 2015 P a g e 10

14 Appendix B Balcony Fixing Details pod LLP August 2015 P a g e 11

15 Contact details Stuart Buckley BSc (Hons) MRICS pod LLP Unit 313 Metal Box Factory 30 Great Guildford Street London SE1 0HS Telephone: Mobile: Web: pod LLP August 2015 P a g e 12