黑洞社区

Camden council has said it is to remove cladding panels from five tower blocks in the borough that were similar in design to that used on Grenfell Tower in north Kensington.

In a lengthy statement the council leader, Georgia Gould said it had decided to act after receiving the results from independent testing of the cladding on Chalcots Estate from the laboratory at the 黑洞社区 Research Establishment.

鈥淔ollowing last week鈥檚 tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, Camden Council immediately reviewed fire safety at all our high rise blocks. We knew we had set the highest standards but we weren鈥檛 prepared to take anything for granted and we were first in the queue to test the cladding on our blocks.

鈥淲e have now received the results of independent testing of cladding on Chalcots Estate from the laboratory at the 黑洞社区 Research Establishment.

鈥淭he arrangement of the cladding and insulation used on Camden Council鈥檚 buildings significantly differs from that on Grenfell Tower. It includes fire-resistant rock wool insulation designed to prevent the spread of fire and fire resistant sealant between floors, designed to stop a high-intensity flat fire from spreading to neighbouring flats. This arrangement previously contained a fire at a flat in Taplow block in 2012. These are significant and proven arrangements to stop the spread of fire.

鈥淭he new results from the laboratory show that the outer cladding panels themselves are made up of aluminium panels with a polyethylene core.

鈥淭herefore the panels that were fitted were not to the standard that we had commissioned. In light of this, we will be informing the contractor that we will be taking urgent legal advice.鈥�

Gould鈥檚 statement went on: 鈥淲hilst we are clear that our cladding design and insulation significantly differs to that at Grenfell Tower, the external cladding panels did not satisfy our independent laboratory testing or the high standards we set for contractors.

鈥淐amden Council has decided it will immediately begin preparing to remove these external cladding panels from the five tower blocks on the Chalcots Estate. Camden Council will do whatever it takes to ensure our residents are reassured about the safety of their homes.

鈥淯ntil the panels have all been removed, we will carry out 24/7 fire safety patrols on the estate鈥檚 corridors to reassure residents and carry out enhanced fire safety checks. This additional assessment work includes a sweep of corridors to make sure they are clear of obstructions and anything that is potentially flammable. We will also be working with residents to test white goods, assessing fire doors in properties and we will be providing fire safety advice to residents.

鈥淲e have set up an information point on Chalcots Estate staffed by our housing teams who will be highly visible to our residents over the coming days. We want any residents who have concerns or questions to come to the information point so we can help them.

鈥淲e are working side-by-side with our housing groups and the London Fire Brigade and we remain ready to respond to any changes to national fire safety advice. We stand ready to fully support any national investigation into materials, building standards and safety regulations.

鈥淚t鈥檚 vital for all of London鈥檚 residents who live in high-rise buildings, that we learn from investigations into what caused and exacerbated the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower.鈥�

HTA Architects was the architect on a PFI refurbishment of the Charlcots Estate that started on site in 2006. The main contractor on the works was Rydon and subcontractor Harley Facades carried out the cladding work, according to the company鈥檚 websites.

The Charlcots Estate comprises four 23-storey tower blocks and a 19-storey block in the Swiss Cottage area housing 708 homes.