IT'S amazing what you can see from the top of a tower block. Admiring the view from the twelfth floor of the new Tribe apartments in New Islington you can see scaffolding and workmen on the flat roofs of the very distinctive Islington Square in Ancoats.
It was so bad there was water running down the wall in the bedroom
I thought we had another Urban Splash leaky roof saga. But while Splash are/were the lead developer on the Millennium Village and jointly appointed FAT as architects for the scheme, it was Manchester Methodist Housing (now Great Places) that commissioned the building of the 23 houses for social rent.
The scheme was built by Richardson Projects in 2006 but according to residents it’s been a sorry tale of woe from the start. They complain of poor materials, badly fitting doors and windows, rotting garage doors, and worst of all, leaks in the roof which make the bedrooms damp.
One resident (who wished to remain anonymous) said: “It was so bad there was water running down the wall in the bedroom at one point. They tried to fix it but it just happened again. They look fancy but what you really want is somewhere that is well built and doesn’t start falling apart.”
Despite being just nine years old some of the balconies are so rotten they have had to be removed and board attached to the windows for safety. Many of the garage doors have been replaced and look closely and you'll see misaligned gutters and flashing. It turns out the build was so bad that all the roofs are now having to be replaced and Great Places is taking legal action to pursue an insurance claim because Richardson Projects no longer exists.
It may be wrong to compare but credit to Great Places for ordering a full investigation, authorising a major repair and pursuing a claim. All things that owners at Timber Wharf had to do for themselves (read here). Couple that with an honest and upfront apology from Great Places boss Matthew Harrison who admits: “Not everything has worked out as we planned.
“Firstly, I would like to apologise to residents for the ongoing problems that they have faced and we have met them on a regular basis to discuss their concerns. We originally worked with residents on the design and specification as part of Manchester’s Millennium Community project and wanted to create something different.
"We were first made aware a few years ago about water stains to ceilings which we initially thought were leaks and we made arrangements to fix these leaks. However, problems continued over a long period of time with various attempts at repairs failing, and we were unable to establish the cause until we carried out a full survey. This discovered condensation due to gaps in the insulation where the contractor had originally installed the roof.
“We then explored a variety of options before deciding that the best option for residents would be to replace all the roofs which is what we are now doing.
"There have been a number of issues with the materials used by the original contractor and we are now carrying out improvements where necessary, for example, gates throughout have been replaced and we are also repairing balconies. Throughout this process we have been liaising closely with residents to minimise disruption.
“In a couple of cases we have compensated residents in particular circumstances where it was appropriate to do so. The contractor, Richardson Projects, no longer exists but we are in the process of pursuing an insurance claim concerning the construction of the building.”
Directly across the road from Islington Square the first Urban Splash HoUSes are being put up. They're prefabricated off-site so the interiors should be fine, let’s hope they stack the pods properly and get the insulation gaps right.
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