Revitalising the concrete jungle

For Four million people, social housing is an essential national asset: after all it provides homes at below market rates for all those residents who would never be able to afford their own housing.

We house some of the oldest social housing within Europe, with a substantial proportion built in the post war boom years, fabricated with concrete, however after many years of ferocious winter seasons they have unfortunately fallen into a state of decay.

Completely demolishing these dated structures would quite simply destroy important years of our past; however we cannot stand back and let them crumble, so what can we do in the way of repair after years of neglect? Perhaps maintaining and extending the life of these high rise building is the most effective and reliable path.

Population is increasing year upon year, and housing it becoming hand to find for every family. Even after the Second World War housing shortage became a problem, and the Government policy encouraged local authorities to construct ‘modern’ tower block to alleviate housing shortages.

Concrete was the common material when it came to building these high rise buildings, as the material could be easily applied, was long lasting and ultimately offered flexibility to designers.

Durability of these reinforced ‘streets in the sky’ is not a strong point, but rather a great hindrance: concrete itself does not materialise this problem, the demanding deadlines forced planners to replicate design faults.

Premature deterioration, unexpected cracking often caused by corrosion, poor appearance and inadequate finish became the order of the day for these buildings overall indicating a quick lack of modernistic looks.

The current economic climate means that less people are able to afford their own house, leaving it to the local authorities and housing associations to bring new ideas to the table. Instead of building new structures to accommodate the public, they are pressed to refurbish the existing housing stock.

George Loveless House and the neighbouring James Hammett House were two of the first to feature high level blocks using reinforced concrete. Yet sadly over the years, the two twelve storey residential tower blocks had fallen into poor shape with the external coatings, walkways, decks, aggregate panels and mastic joints all in need of a dramatic facelift.

Chloride penetration and subsequent corrosion of the steel reinforcement meant that these buildings were faced with significant structural damage.

However it wasn’t the end of two 12 storey blocks: a careful assessment was completed and a specified range of concrete repair products were selected such as mortars, corrosion management systems and sealant all with the intention of repairing and protecting

The large sections of building columns were repaired with a cementitous free flowing micro-concrete repair system, whilst the exposed concrete and brick surfaces of the building were protected with a silicone coating which is fortunately water repellent and guarantees the aesthetic appeal of the tower blocks.

Smaller repairs to soffits, columns, decks and aggregate panels were completed using a Monotop Concrete Repair system. A cementitious one part system which comprises polymer modified mortars: the system has an excellent resistance to water and chloride penetration, helping to prevent future damage to the concrete structure.

Other requirements were sealing all of the joints on the block to create a water and air tight envelope which will avoid water ingress, air leakage and staining of building materials.

These swift repairs were carried out to the highest standard, and you may be happy to know they were not rushed for tight deadlines which inevitably caused such problems.

Perhaps this particular project has set a benchmark for others to trail: it answers one of the biggest problems we face in todays society, and it certainly shows that not every building needs to be teared down in order to fabricate a unique structure. Perhaps in the future we need to ask ourselves , 'Do we absoloutely need to rebuild this building, or would a simple solution of concrete repair suffice? '