Bolton student block blaze raises new cladding concerns
By Hamish Champ and Jim Dunton2019-11-18T13:46:00
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.
…