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London council awards £77m contract to fix estate with Grenfell-style cladding
Camden Council has awarded a £77.2m contract for delayed cladding work on four tower blocks on the high-profile Chalcots Estate, nearly three years after a contract was originally agreed.
The north London council has handed the retendered contract to Essex-based contractor McLaren Construction, which will see new “A1-fire-rated” cladding, windows and curtain walls installed on the 1960s estate in Swiss Cottage.
Thousands of residents were evacuated from the Chalcots Estate just days after the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 over fears around its aluminium composite (ACM) cladding. ACM cladding was the type used on Grenfell Tower.
Since then, efforts to fix the high-rise buildings on the 717-home estate have been delayed.
Camden Council had originally secured Wates for a £90m contract for recladding and fire safety work in January 2019, but the local authority moved to retender the project in May 2020 after it reportedly failed to agree final terms with Wates for the project.
Work to remove the original cladding started in September 2017.
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Also in 2019, Camden Council launched a £130m legal claim against the original contractors on the refurbishment of Chalcots Estate, which included Rydon, the main construction firm on the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower.
Camden Council has since secured an undisclosed amount from the government’s cladding remediation fund to fix the buildings.
Installation of the new cladding will start in June as part of a schedule of works that will see McLaren working on two blocks at the same time, the council said.
Due to its different structure, a separate two-stage design and build contract was awarded to John Graham Construction last September for the fifth tower block on the estate, known as Blashford.
Under the McLaren contract, pre-construction work is due to start immediately and all five towers are due to be completed by December 2023.
Meric Apak, cabinet member for better homes at Camden Council, said the appointment of McLaren was a “significant step forward”.
He added: “Our sights are now firmly set on quality and the safe completion, and I look forward to a shared resident-focused approach as we move forward with the delivery of this project.”
In 2020, McLaren launched a housing arm as part of its move into the UK residential market.
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