Unsafe cracking walls and other materials which are a fire risk will be replaced at a building in the town centre which is home to Caffé Nero.
Netting was installed above the cafe on the corner of Broad Street and St Mary’s Butts to protect pedestrians from falling debris due to the cracking bricks.
Reading Borough Council (RBC) this week approved Standard Life Aberdeen’s application to remove and replace the cladding at 66-68 St Mary’s Butts, including the cracked bricks and other materials which are combustible.
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The building was reclad in 2015-2016 but, shortly afterwards, the bricks started cracking.
As a result, the brick has now been netted to protect the public from falling debris and the entire brick-clad section of the building needs to be stripped off and replaced.
The zinc cladding on the top part of the building and other combustible materials will also be replaced due to fire safety concerns but there will be no works to the Caffé Nero part of the building.
The upper floors, which have the faulty brickwork, are currently used as offices by two recruitment firms.
Works will aim to retain the visual appearance of the existing cladding as far as possible, with some minor enhancements, while replacing the failing brickwork with a safe cladding and removing combustible materials from the façades.
Approving the plans, council planning officer Beatrice Malama said: “Although the proposed recladding would include minor differences in the detailing, the overall external appearance of the building would not be materially affected.
“Despite a few detailing differences, the proposal is considered unlikely to have a detrimental impact on the external appearance of the building.”
Why did the bricks start cracking so quickly?
The building owners, Aberdeen Standard Life, commissioned specialist cladding consultants Wintech to provide an analysis of the reasons for the failure.
The Wintech report found the failure was due to moisture absorption and a lack of expansion join, which are standard practice in rainscreen façades.
The report also highlighted fire safety concerns from the use of phenolic insulation behind the brickwork and the timber and plywood behind the zinc cladding at the top part of the building, which are all combustible materials.
Both will be replaced at the same time as the brickwork.
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Although these materials are compliant with building regulations for a building of its type and height, Standard Life Aberdeen said the market is moving towards elimination of combustible materials in cladding.
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