Grenfell Cladding

[spectrum64]

According to this article

https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news ... ell-tower/

there are two hotels in Berkshire with dangerous cladding, but they will not be publicly named.

I think I would like to know where such hotels are (and not just local ones) and to find out what mitigation measures are in place before they get round to replacing the cladding.

[chris_j_wood]

My first guess, until I finished reading the article, was the Novotel and Ibis in Friar Street. Both use the same (as each other) metallic finished cladding. However at 12 and 14 stories respectively, both are clearly well above 18m in height, and the article says one of the two hotels is below 18m. So unless the fire brigade is counting them as a single hotel (which is in't entirely out of the question, as they are both in the same building and owned by the same company) it isn't them.

The Travelodge by the IDR on Oxford Road also has a metallic cladding, and could well fit the bill for the hotel that is under 18m but over 11m. So could the Premier Inn behind the Oracle, or the Hilton on Kennet Island. Not so sure about the Holiday Inn at Winnersh Triangle; its cladding is more cement like.

Most of Reading's other hotels are built, or clad, in brick, which presumably rules them out.

[cnb]

Not so sure about the Holiday Inn at Winnersh Triangle; its cladding is more cement like.

I can see all three of the Winnersh Triangle hotels - Holiday Inn, Travelodge and Premier Inn - from my office window. All of them are primarily cement rendered.

[j9j9j9]

.

[chris_j_wood]

I can see all three of the Winnersh Triangle hotels - Holiday Inn, Travelodge and Premier Inn - from my office window. All of them are primarily cement rendered.

Oh wow, I am obviously failing to keep up to date. I did know about the Premier Inn, but had forgotten it. And I had no idea that Travelodge was there; when did it go up?.

I did cross-check my mental model of Reading hotels with Expedia, but I'd forgotten they don't seem to sell rooms in Premier Inns or Travelodges.

[cnb]

Oh wow, I am obviously failing to keep up to date. I did know about the Premier Inn, but had forgotten it. And I had no idea that Travelodge was there; when did it go up?.

The Travelodge opened in 2015. The Premier Inn last year - built post Grenfell so obviously wouldn't have similar cladding.

[spectrum64]

Assuming they are chain hotels, I don't really understand the reluctance to name them. This would motivate the companies involved to act quickly to sort it out.

Fears of arson seem rather strange. Knowing that there are two hotels means that the arsonist should set fire to every hotel they can find to identify those which have defective cladding.

[cnb]

Assuming they are chain hotels, I don't really understand the reluctance to name them. This would motivate the companies involved to act quickly to sort it out.

Most 'chain' hotels are franchises. The company that owns the hotel may be very small and with limited resources.

[KeithW]

Not a hotel, but Hanover House in Eldon Road has such issues and this has resulted in the underneath car park being closed as a precaution.

[spectrum64]

Assuming they are chain hotels, I don't really understand the reluctance to name them. This would motivate the companies involved to act quickly to sort it out.

Most 'chain' hotels are franchises. The company that owns the hotel may be very small and with limited resources.

Maybe then information should be given on a nationwide basis to put pressure on the chain as a whole without identifying individual sites.

If it were announced that x Premier Inns and y Travelodges had issues it would quite possibly get them to do remedial work very quickly. Of course x and y could be zero - I have no inside information!

[chris_j_wood]

This is rather old (from just after the Grenfell tragedy) and things will have moved on since then, but it does give some indications:

https://www.thecaterer.com/news/hotel/h ... r-cladding

[Fed-up]

I wonder if one of the hotels is The Grange in the centre of Bracknell.

This was an office block reclad and repurposed in the early 2000's IIRC.

[windrush]

Not cladding as such but I (and other lads I worked with) were surprised to see when the Premier Inn in Derby was being built many years ago just how much wood in sheet form was used before the insulation and external walls were fitted. Several of us commented that if that place ever sets on fire it will take some extinguishing, however it must have conformed to building regulations.

Pete.

[Jack Strop]

Started removing the cladding from Hanover House, corner of Eldon Road and Kings Road. Doesn't seem that long since they refurbished it from offices into flats.

[adrianm758]

Same going on with Kennet House on Kings Road.

[Mayfield]

In the days when we used to go to hotels we never booked a room above the third floor....fireman’s ladders have a finite length....

[Voiceoftreason?]

In the days when we used to go to hotels we never booked a room above the third floor....fireman’s ladders have a finite length....

About seven stories. Mayfield is their long reach limit. Not that we go to hotels often, never book above about three or four if going to a chain. Was on the 21st floor of a hotel in Madrid once - scared the underpinnings off me, but got some good rooftop snaps.

[Mayfield]

Not sure my nerves would survive coming down 7 floors on a fireman’s ladder...3 would be more than enough....

[Mayfield]

Not sure my nerves would survive coming down 7 floors on a fireman’s ladder...3 would be more than enough....

[Voiceoftreason?]

Not sure my nerves would survive coming down 7 floors on a fireman’s ladder...3 would be more than enough....

Depends on the fireman. Heheh.

[Mayfield]

Well if it was George Clooney or a lookey likely... I may open my eyes

[The_Deep]

FWIIW, I tried to a flat on the river near The Oracle at Christmas. The agents refused to take it on due to cladding issues which they said made flats difficult to sell. I have just sold another flat in Tilehurst without a problem, albeit at a very attractive price.

[dave m]

I wasn't surprised when the hotel just on the IDR roundabout was built. It seemed to be a predominantly timber construction. Given the acoustic properties of concrete I would have thought that a more solid construction would have given a better night's sleep

Wooden buildings can be safe, with the right precautions.

[chris_j_wood]

Wooden buildings can be safe, with the right precautions.

In fact structural timber generally survives a serious fire better than either steel or concrete. It will burn slowly from the outside in, but the charring affect as it does so will tend to protect the surviving timber and it will generally only lose its structural integrity slowly, giving plenty of time to evacuate or fight the fire or whatever. Steel on the other hand will fail catastrophically once it gets too hot. Concrete because of its nature is more unpredictable, but heat can seriously affect its strength and it too can fail catastrophically. As we all saw on our TV screens 20 years ago.

[Bam]

A stout timber frame building is good but a lot of modern timber framed buildings seem to be made of matchsticks and I wonder how the plans get passed. e.g. the lovely new Premier Inn at Banbury which soon burned down and was very hushed up.

And another Premier Inn at Bristol, see photo.