Netting has been installed above Caffé Nero on the corner of Broad Street and St Mary’s Butts to protect pedestrians from falling debris due to cracking bricks.
Standard Life Aberdeen, owners of the building at 66-68 St Mary’s Butts, have submitted plans to the council to remove and replace the cladding due to the cracked bricks, as well as concerns over fire safety.
The building was reclad from 2015-2016 but, shortly afterwards, the brick slip cladding began visibly distorting and cracks were noticed in the brick slip faces.
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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 now needs to be stripped off and replaced.
The plans also include replacing the zinc cladding on the top part of the building and the materials behind it due to fire safety concerns but there will be no works to the Caffé Nero part of the building.
The visual appearance of the existing cladding will be retained as far as possible, with some minor enhancements, while replacing the failing brickwork with a safe cladding and removing combustible materials from the façades.
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 joins – which are standard practice in rainscreen façades.
Fire safety concerns
The Wintech report also highlighted fire safety concerns from the use of phenolic insulation behind the brickwork, which is a combustible material
Additionally, there is timber and plywood behind the zinc cladding at the top part of the building, which is also combustible.
Both will be replaced at the same time as the brickwork.
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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