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Refurbishment of iconic tower near Grenfell goes over budget due to fire
The refurbishment of an iconic high-rise block one mile from Grenfell Tower is set to go over budget due to the Grenfell fire, the council has said.
A document submitted to Kensington and Chelsea Council’s Housing and Property Scrutiny Committee said that the work on Trellick Tower, which has now restarted, is forecast to exceed its budget by £700,000.
It said the rising costs were down to delays caused by the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people in June 2017.
Trellick Tower is a Grade II* listed building that opened in 1972. It is considered an architectural masterpiece, designed in the Brutalist style by Erno Goldfinger, who also designed Balfron Tower in east London.
In May 2017, Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), which at the time managed both Trellick and Grenfell, commissioned a £7.2m restoration programme on the tower.
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At the time it appointed Wates Living Space to carry out works on the building’s concrete, cladding and windows, with the work initially expected to finish in June 2018.
A spokesperson for the council, which has taken over management of Trellick Tower, told Inside Housing: “In July 2017 the refurbishment of Trellick Tower was paused, as we focused on helping those affected by the Grenfell tragedy and reviewed our approach to the fire safety of all our homes.
“For Trellick this work included completing a fresh risk assessment and listening to residents’ concerns about the building, whilst involving them more in the decisions guiding the refurbishment.”
The rapid and devastating spread of flame at Grenfell has been largely blamed on the installation of flammable cladding on the side of the building in a 2012-2016 refurbishment, with Professor Luke Bisby, an expert witness to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, calling it the “primary cause”.
Because of Trellick’s listed status, KCTMO would not have been permitted to cover its exposed concrete exterior in flammable cladding.
A fire in April 2017 at Trellick Tower, just two months before the Grenfell Tower fire, saw 200 tenants evacuated from their homes late in the evening.
There were, however, no injuries or deaths as a result of the fire, which was contained on the 27th floor where it started.
By contrast, the fire at Grenfell spread quickly from its flat of origin out of the window to the flammable cladding, up the side of the building and around the other walls, wrapping the tower in flames.
