Jill Burdett on the continuing disgrace at Timber Wharf. You may want to read this story and this one and this one first, although the story here provides some background too.
THE scaffolding is up and work has begun on the £1m job to fix the roof and the leaks at Timber Wharf.
“We are very much relieved to have got to this point and are looking forward to Timber Wharf being restored to its proper condition.
But sadly it does not mean there is a happy, fair, sensible and decent conclusion to this shameful saga.
As it stands right now the 181 owners will still have to foot the bill for major repairs that are non of their making.
Most, but not all, have paid the Section 20 demand notices from managing agents Mainstay covering their portion of the costs and this pot is underwriting the work which is being carried out by the firm Surface Protection and will have a 20 year guarantee.
Urban Splash, which commissioned, constructed and signed off the Glenn Howells project still owns 17 apartments and six commercial units in the building – including its own headquarters –and has paid its £186,000 share.
On a positive note negotiations are still on-going with the NHBC which insured the building when it was completed back in 2002. While the guarantee signed back then does not cover the flat roof, it does cover the lower apartments and the atrium which have suffered serious water damage.
How much the NHBC is prepared to contribute is still, after many, many months, being negotiated. But at least they are speaking to the management committee which is more than can be said for anyone else.
The feeling is that once a figure has been agreed the management committee will consider pursuing the authors of their misery – namely Urban Splash, Glenn Howells and Martin Stockley among others in a sort of joint action. If all paid a share it would seem a fair and equitable solution.
Timber Wharf scaffolding
The external works are likely to take until mid October and involve not only replacing the 8th floor roof and removing rotting insulation but work on the 7th floor where two sets of sliding doors on all apartments on this level will be removed so new waterproof underlay can be laid and drainage holes that were blocked, cleared and others that were wrongly drilled, blocked.
It will take 24 hours to do each pair of doors but the hope is that people will not have to move out while the work is done. When the external work is completed things move inside and all the apartments that suffered water damage and damp, as well as the vast atrium entrance will be made good.
That will be a happy day for owners who view it as nothing less than the re-birth of the building after a decade of stress and worry.
Its early days but they want to celebrate and have come up with a wonderful idea to hold a community competition to design new art work for the atrium space.
At the moment 11 of an original 14, Damien Hirst prints still hang there but they belong to Urban Splash and this will be a new beginning so they want them gone. (Three were stolen in the autumn of 2013 which prompts more bad memories of the building being violated.)
It’s a positive move and being driven by Linda Macaulay, one of the management committee directors. She said: “We are very much relieved to have got to this point and are looking forward to Timber Wharf being restored to its proper condition.
“We have an exceptional atrium space and have decided to hold a community competition to replace the existing artwork. We are asking residents, leaseholders and friends of the building to submit images of Timber Wharf or Manchester for hanging in what is effectively a vertical art gallery. We are hoping this will be a positive community building activity, helping us feel a sense ‘ownership’ and contributing to the celebrations we are planning once the work is completed.”
It seems a wonderful opportunity for aspiring artists but if you are interested you have to declare your intent by 1 July and send a draft submission by 21 July
Full details here: www.artworktimberwharf.com
Tomorrow Urban Splash chairman Tom Bloxham MBE is one of the speakers at Property Industry Ireland’s 2014 Conference at Grand Canal Square in Dublin which has Making Cities Work as its theme.
His talk is entitled: Making an Urban Splash? Perhaps the answer is: Let the roof leak.
You can follow Jill Burdett on Twitter here.
Timber Wharf on the right of the canal on day when the leaks won't be an issue
