Vickers House, Romford

Vickers House in Romford provides 93 apartments above two levels of car parking. The building is 10 storeys in height and the top floor level is above 18m from the external ground level. The works comprised the removal of the existing brickwork and rainscreen cladding, installation of new insulation, fire barriers and sheathing board, and the reinstatement of new brickwork and cladding. The areas for refurbishment were to all elevations of Vickers House.

The building is residential and remained occupied throughout the contract. All possible measures were taken to ensure the safety of the residents and to minimise disruption to building occupants, visitors and the general public.

Key Challenges

This was a challenging project as the block directly overlooks the River Rom, and is located near a number of local businesses and a busy dual carriageway. The Canal & River Trust were liaised with from the PCSA period to ensure all licences were procured and that they were aware of the works taking place.

The volume of brickwork removal and replacement required was also a substantial challenge and we utilised installers with experience of this workstream specifically to minimise impact.

Social Value

Due to the external works pigeon netting had to be removed. Pigeons decided to take this opportunity and start to nest on the resident's balcony. The resident brought this to the attention of the RLO, who contacted the pest control team to humanly remove the pigeons from the balcony and cleaned the area. The resident really appreciated that we cleaned their balcony, whilst relocating the pigeons with their young.

There was an occasion where a young child was stuck in the lift. Whilst passing the Site Manager heard a sound of a young child crying. He tried to prise the lift open but could not do so. Our Site Manager spoke calmly and reassuringly to the young boy until the emergency services arrived. Later, the parents came to the site office and thanked Lawtech for helping their son.

During the scorching summer months, the client offered to give a vulnerable resident air con/humidifiers as for safety reasons they could only open their window for ventilation. This was accepted gratefully by the resident and our client had the unit delivered to the site office for us to deliver to the resident. This provided some relief to the resident.

A resident came to our site office, requesting for help after a mouse got caught in the trap that she had set the night before. She told us that she could not remove the mouse herself due to her fears. Lawtech stepped in to remove the dead mouse forthwith. The resident was happy and thanked us for our help.

One resident had been in hospital to have a major operation. On their return they asked if we could assist in moving their washing machine out from the wall. We stepped in to help resident so that it would make it easier through their recovery. The tenant was extremely grateful for the support.

Resident Feedback

Our team received great feedback from the residents for being helpful, attentive and compassionate as the intrusive works took place, supporting all residents throughout.

One resident emailed our dedicated Resident Liaison Officer (RLO) to provide positive feedback:

'I just wanted to say how pleased I was at having the Cortex removed from my windows and door. The operatives made a great job of cleaning and maintenance of my balcony area. I am so happy to have natural daylight again. Thank you team!'