Crumbling Coventry University student accommodation blocks to be demolished

[dutchman]

The blocks need to be 'urgently demolished' due to 'significant structural defects'



Two deteriorating city centre student accommodation blocks are set to be torn down after falling concrete and corroding metal reinforcements were found.

Coventry City Council have approved plans to urgently tear down Block G and the tower belonging to Block H of Coventry University’s Priory Hall near Fairfax Street.

Proposals have been put forward to temporarily landscape the area while a long-term development plan is formulated by the university and city stakeholders.

Planning documents state that vacant blocks need to be urgently demolished due to “significant structural defects”.

Problems with the university’s oldest tower blocks were discovered in 2014, according to the structural report.

A one metre wide section of spalled concrete fell from the ceiling in the 18-storey Block G, revealing reinforcement corrosion. Loose concrete was also found in the bathroom ceilings on other floors.

The report states that “in some areas the corrosion was so severe that steel reinforcing bars had completely disintegrated and could be crumbled by hand”.

A recommendation from inspectors at Couch Consulting Engineers said that Priory Hall has “no viable future” as short-term repairs would be costly and the building would continue to deteriorate.

Developers Turnberry has said that “the structural deterioration of Priory Hall is not the result of any deliberate neglect on the part of the University but is rather the result of the blocks’ original construction methods”.

The two buildings were erected in the 1960s and 1970s from grey aggregate precast concrete panels using Bison Wall Frame System which was selected for its speed of construction and low cost.

In order to demolish the buildings, they will be ‘debuilt’. According to the demolition method statement, Block H’s tower will be removed first.

To do this “scaffolding will be put in place and a mobile crane to be located in the courtyard area will lift mini diggers to the top of the roof and will de-construct the building from the top to the bottom via mechanical means”.

Despite being close to several areas of historical significance, like Coventry Central Baths and the Hilltop conservation area, the Heritage Impact Assessment of the site states that “the significant costs of stabilising Blocks G and H in the short-term would be disproportionate to their limited heritage significance”.

The remaining area of Block H will be three-storeys high and keep in line with the appearance and scale of surrounding buildings. It is still currently occupied and in use for student accommodation purposes.

Coventry University have been contacted for comment.

[Melisandre]

So they are more concerned about the danger what outsiders live in before the local people dwellings the locals that made this city what it us today shame on them.

[dutchman]

Coventry University rule on future of hated green student block



One of Coventry’s most-hated buildings is here to stay - despite plans to demolish its equally ugly cousins.

Block J of Coventry University’s Priory Hall will remain despite planning permission being approved to knock down both Block G and the tower belonging to Block H.

Those two accommodation blocks in Priory Street need to be urgently demolished due to “significant structural defects”

However the green six-storey block on stilts which fronts Fairfax Street, also known as Quadrant Halls, will remain for at least another ten years as it has recently undergone renovation work.

A spokesman for the university said: “Priory Hall J block has been refurbished in recent years to give it a further 10 or so years of useful life, and in the longer term, as the area is redeveloped, we would consider its future in the context of other developments that come forward.”

Like the other blocks, when Block J was first built, it was a grey colour.

However, following recladding and rendering in the mid-1990s, the building took on a green exterior.

[Melisandre]

Of course it will go with the new buildings they are sticking up around the town all eye sores no features dull colours ugly.