click images to see a slideshow

When fifteen-storey Barton House was completed in 1958 it was the tallest block of flats outside London and the first of four pairs of tower blocks on the Barton Hill estate in Bristol. Tower blocks on this scale were fashionable to planners and architects at the time throughout the UK and, though many have since been demolished, most towns and cities in the UK still have these ‘behemoths’ excreting hot air over the buildings below.

The Barton Hill tower blocks were refurbished for the first time during the nineties but the overcladding has since been deemed inferior by Bristol City Council for their tenants, so they undertook a further two-year programme of improvements in 2009 to Beaufort House, Barton House, Harwood House and Ashmead House.

Having worked successfully with us on other projects across the city, Bristol City Council's Senior Surveyor, Paul Jermy, was aware of the value of Gebrik due to the benefits of speed, cleanliness and robustness on previous projects. He was convinced that Gebrik would create a long term solution, whilst creating minimal impact on the existing tenants during construction, so we supplied Gebrik for use on the ground floor of each tower block. The existing fragile cladding was removed and then a layer of insulation was applied prior to application of Gebrik. A total of approx 1,000m² of the Red Multi Rustic (Ref CE71-60) has been supplied and installed by specialist cladding contractor Rateavon, which should now ensure the buildings will be thermally efficient and sufficiently robust to withstand daily wear and tear for a minimum of 30 years.

Please click on any of the images on the right to see a slideshow showing aspects of the Barton Hill development.

• Client: Bristol City Council
• Main Contractor: CRL
• Cladding Contractor: Rateavon