Concrete Repairs Ltd (CRL) were employed to carry out the concrete repairs and coatings to this historic building on behalf of Urban Splash as part of amajor project to regenerate the area. Park Hill is an iconic housing estate in Sheffield that was originally built between 1957 and 1961 and was given grade 2-listed status in 1998 making it the largest listed building in Europe. It’s brutalist architecture and “streets in the sky” concept has enabled it to regularly appear in films, music videos and on television including two series of Dr Who.
The project was undertaken with sympathy to the original construction and heritage of the building whilst also providing suitable protection to preserve it for the future. CRL worked with the Architects, Sheffield City planners and Historic England to provide a repair system and finish that would tell a visible story of the building’s history whilst also retaining many of the original features such as the board marked features. Over 13,000 repairs were undertaken to the concrete elements of the building, all to a very high standard prior to the external concrete structure being protected by a mineral concrete coating.
The works were undertaken over a period of nearly two years to comply with the client’s programme requirements and included significant adaptations to working practices due to the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic midway through the scheme. By introducing strict protocols at the outset, which were continuously monitored and developed to maintain hygiene and social distancing discipline, we were able to assist the client on significantly reducing their downtime.
All the main elevations were accessed from scaffold, with some of the link bridges being undertaken from Mobile Elevating Work Platforms to allow the client the facility to maintain access for other trades. The high-level link bridges required extensive repairs due to water penetration through the original asphalt covering and the expansion joints. As this had caused large elements of the bearing shelf and main bridge beams to have deteriorated, the bridges needed to be propped down to ground level to repair the bearing shelf. The main bridge repairs were undertaken in a “hit and miss” sequence to a schedule developed by CRL and the Structural Engineer to prevent further propping being needed, whilst also maintaining the structural integrity of the bridges during the works.
To create a new open lobby area for the entrance the client removed some of the floor sections requiring the supporting columns to be strengthened. Whilst options such as Carbon Fibre and High Strength Concrete were considered, ultimately the client wished these areas to remain exposed and match the existing structure. CRL therefore carried out the works to strengthen the columns by over cladding the inside face in concrete, with the reinforcement cage tied in by introducing dowels into the existing columns.
Contact Us