The London Fire Brigade has announced an investigation into the Bank Holiday weekend blaze at the Spectrum Building in Chadwell Heath, east London. Construction News has pieced together a history of the building from planning documents.
Circa 1973: The part-five-part-six-storey office building is built on a 3,106 square metre site at 22-42 Freshwater Road. The building’s frame is made from concrete, which is clad with precast concrete infill panels. The building is occupied by industrial chemical manufacturer Du Pont.
2007: After sitting empty for more than three years and no prospect of a replacement tenant, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham agrees that the building has no future as an employment building.
CREDIT: London Fire Brigade
2010: Permission is granted to Chadwell Properties to convert the building into 30 one-bedroom and 30 two-bedroom flats with commercial use retained at the lower and upper ground floors. Two extra floors, with lightweight rainscreen cladding, raise the height of the building from 17.5 to 22.7 metres. All windows and doors are reglazed in silver-grey upvc. Large triangular private balconies are added to the entire building.
2018: The Planning Inspectorate grants permission for a six-storey extension to the building to incorporate four two-bedroom and 12 one-bedroom flats, 18 months after the application was refused by the local authority due to parking issues.
As part of the planning consultation, the council raises concerns over fire safety with representatives of the building owner following complaints from residents. The residents list worries about cladding on the fifth and sixth floors, the cloth canopy to a nursery building on the ground floor, wooden decking on balconies and broken fire doors in corridors.
A response from representatives of the building owner says that the canopy was installed due to litter being dropped from windows above while children were playing. The letter says that the rainscreen panels on the fifth and sixth floors were “specified by the manufacturer who supplied them”. It adds: “This acts purely as a rainscreen, the insulation is within the structure itself which is fire checked independently between each individual apartment.”
2022: Spectrum Residents’ Association submits evidence to a parliamentary inquiry stating that a September 2020 survey showed that “the building did not fully comply with building regulations at the time of build”.
2023: In April, the London Fire Brigade issues an enforcement notice to building owners over a number of issues:
- Failure to review the fire risk assessment.
- Failure in the effective management of the preventive and protective measures.
- Failure to provide and/or maintain adequate and clearly indicated emergency routes and exits.
- Failure to establish an appropriate emergency plan.
- Failure to ensure that the premises and any facilities, equipment and devices for use by or protection of fire-fighters are maintained in an efficient state, in effective working order and in good repair.
In July, permission is granted for work to strip out “non-compliant cladding materials” on the fifth and sixth floors, plus window spandrels and balcony-dividing privacy screens on the whole building.
2024
In January, Fleetwood Architectural Aluminium Ltd is listed in council documents as the principal contractor for the remedial works.
