Located in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, which is dubbed the creative and urban heart of the city, Vantage Quay was identified as having unsafe cladding in the wake of the Grenfell disaster
It was agreed that there was a need to undertake works to address the inadequacy of the external cladding system, timber trellis and associated insulation.
The project was being paid for using the Building Safety Fund and Hamilton was appointed by the Casey Group Ltd to act as their sub-contractor partner for the removal and replacement.
Vantage Quay is a purpose built development of 117 apartments that was completed in 2002 and comprises a ground floor with seven stories. It overlooks a beautifully restored basin along the Rochdale canal in a former warehouse area.
Works commenced in December 2022 with Hamilton’s, Robbie Martin, at the helm along with two teams of operatives who have worked with main contractors, Casey, to keep the job on schedule with minimal disruption to residents.
The original specification was to install a WBS Epsitec rail system but, following consultations and discussions with all the companies involved, this was changed to a direct fix system using a thicker 160mm insulation board so the RWA 45 firebreaks could be omitted within the SFS frame.
This project had limited access due to its canalside location in the centre of Manchester. The system that was stripped off was expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation, which is flammable.
It was identified that it would be a significant challenge to try to contain the discarded polystyrene to prevent it entering the local environment, particularly the waterways.
Robbie worked with Hamilton’s Contracts Manager and the Casey team to deliver a solution that included two layers of debris netting on the scaffolding as well as dedicated operatives constantly cleaning using outdoor vacuums to keep the site and environment safe.
The building was completed in December 2023 and the results are stunning.
Robbie Martin said:
This project has been both challenging and rewarding and everyone is delighted with the end results.
With any large scale scheme there are always problems that need solutions and with enough planning we managed to mitigate any potential issues to deliver a new, safe cladding system.
I always enjoy working with the talented teams at Casey and everyone pulls together with the same hard working attitude to ensure a first class finish.
Karl Laidman, Quantity Surveyor at Casey, added:
This was a very important scheme to make the building safe for the residents living in the 117 apartments.
The Building Safety Fund was launched in May 2020 to cover the remediation cost of unsafe cladding on high-rise buildings and since then we have worked on lots of high profile projects with the experienced Hamilton’s team.
Their can-do attitude and methodical approach to any potential issues means we know we can rely on them time after time.
Of course, the one thing none of us can control is the great British weather, but any delays caused by inclement conditions were worked around.
We worked with Robbie and Barry to navigate environmental concerns and manage the impact on residents.
The feedback has been incredible and the results have exceeded client expectations. We look forward to working with Hamilton on more projects in future.
