Generally
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government deem a high-rise building to be over 18m in height. Sefton contains 20 high-rise buildings, 10 of which are privately owned, 9 are owned by One Vision Housing - a Registered Social Landlord (RSL) with the remaining property - which is currently not occupied, being owned by the Authority. The construction of these buildings varies considerably, ranging from traditional brickwork, steel-frame, cast-insitu concrete to system build. A number of these buildings have also been cladded and / or insulated, post construction.
A full list of high-rise residential buildings within the Sefton area is shown below:
- Cygnet House, St James Drive, Bootle –ACM cladding (mineral core), part-sprinklered
- Wren House, St James Drive Bootle –ACM cladding (mineral core) part-sprinklered
- Whimbrel House, St James Drive, Bootle – rendered panels, part-sprinklered
- Stella Nova, Washington Parade, Bootle – cladding Kingspan steel composite sheets
- Irlam House, Church Walk – concrete panel
- Chapel House, Queen Street – composite panel
- Willow House, Maple Close – composite panel
- Dean House, Church Road – composite panel
- Oxford House, Fernhill Road – concrete panel
- Alexander House, Sandy Road – composite panel, part-sprinklered
- Vine House, Kepler Street (currently unoccupied) – concrete panel
- Strand House, Washington Parade – concrete panel
- Regents Court, Lord Street – brickwork
- Sandown Court, Albert Road – concrete panels
- 188 Lord Street, Court Road – masonry
- Maritime Court, Prominade - masonry
- Viceroy Court, Lord Street - brickwork
- Daniel House, Trinity Road – concrete panel
- Regent Court, Lord Street - masonry
- The Academy, Manchester Road - masonry
Aluminium Composite Material (ACM)
ACM cladding consists of two skins of aluminium bonded to either side of a lightweight central core. Typically, this is generally the external element of a ‘rainscreen’ and is usually installed over a separate layer of insulation.
Within the Borough of Sefton there are currently two high-rise residential buildings with ACM cladding, namely Cygnet House and Wren House. Both properties are situated in St James Drive, Bootle.
Both structures were built in the late 1960’s and were originally 11 storeys in height. Between 2009 & 2012, both buildings were refurbished – including the provision of an ACM cladding rainscreen (with a polyethylene core) and the formation of an additional two storeys, making the buildings 13 storeys high. As the additional storeys took the buildings above 30m in height, the refurbishment work included the sprinkling of the new storeys in order to achieve compliance with the Building Regulations.
Following the Grenfell tragedy, the original ACM cladding rainscreen was replaced with an ACM containing a mineral core and that work was completed in 2019.
Both buildings are owned by One Vision Housing (who are an RSL) and enquiries relating to their management / letting polices etc will need to be directed to them, as the Authority has no records / information in that specific respect.
March 2020