Bolton student block blaze raises new cladding concerns

Bolton university accommodaiton block fire

Source: FBU

RADM Architects-designed scheme specified high-pressure laminate panels

A major fire at a seven-storey student-housing development in Bolton has amplified concerns about the safety of a wider range of cladding systems than the type blamed for the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Flames ripped through the RADM Architects-designed The Cube development over the weekend, causing the evacuation of hundreds of residents from the scheme, which was part-refurbishment and extension of an office building and part new-build.

RADM specified a brand of high-pressure laminate (HPL) cladding – Trespa Meteon – for the building after it won planning permission for the scheme in 2013. It has yet to be confirmed whether that product was used in the build-out of the scheme.

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