Wrightstyle has been appointed to enhance fire safety on a 1950s social housing block in Bristol.
Spencer Norton House in the Redcliff Estate was conceived as one of the City Council’s post-war neighbourhood units. It’s in an older part of the city.
The major project is to provide a protected escape route for the 10-storey building. First, aluminium non-fire sated curtain wall screen will be removed from the core of the stairway.
SR60
Wrightstyle will then install a double-glazed SR60 screen in its place, with a roof maintenance access door.
The entire screen, from top to bottom of the building, will be fire-rated to 30/30.
On this project, Wrightstyle is working with Rateavon. They offer construction services to both the commercial and domestic markets, and who are themselves working for Bristol Council.
Fabrication
A specialist team from Wrightstyle is currently surveying the site prior to fabrication. The company will likely to be starting on-site in April.
The screen itself will be some 34 metres high, and five metres wide. However, this will reduce to some 2.5 metres in one of the bay areas, adding further design complexity.
It’s a type of project in which Wrightstyle has extensive experience. The company only recently helped to transform a tired London 1960s high-rise block. As in Bristol, the project was to build in new and improved levels of fire safety.
Leyton Green
The 10-storey Leyton Green tower block, in Leyton, east London – is the same height as the Bristol tower block. This too was completed with a glazed tower from Wrightstyle. This now provides enhanced staircase access as well as a protected escape route.
The Bristol project is part of a wider project by the Council to enhance the visual appearance of the tower block and the surrounding estate.
“Our advanced systems incorporate both enhanced fire protection with aesthetic appeal,” said John Woodcock, Wrightstyle’s contracts manager.
“Not only that, but we have to design and deliver against stringent specifications from the Council,” he said.
Image: Leyton Tower
